Improved in vitro culture and multiplication of different Allium hirtifolium Bioss. ecotypes

Persian shallot (Allium hirtifolium), called as Mooseer in Iran belongs to Alliaceae family and is one of the important edible alliums in Iran. It is native to Iran and grows as a wild plant across the Zagross Mountains. Mooseer bulbs and seeds can be used in propagation, but the bulbs are very slow to grow and the seeds have deep dormancy. Taking into the nutraceuticals value of Persian shallot, it is necessary to improve the multiplication rate of Allium hirtifolium and prevent its extinction. Meanwhile in vitro culture technique can be used for large scale production of different species. In this study the responses of six ecotypes of Allium hirtifolium (Esfahan, Hamedan, Lorestan, Sardasht, Zanjan, Yasuj) collected from different climate in Iran, for in vitro shoot multiplication was investigated. Explants from basal plate were cultured in optimized medium for shoot induction composed of Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium with 2 mg L-1 N6-benzyladenine (BA) and 1 mg L-1 Naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA). Shoots produced were then transferred to hormone free medium for root induction. Although shoot multiplication was obtained in all the ecotypes but results showed the significant variability of days to shoot induction, percent of shoot induction, shoot height, shoot number and percent of root induction in different ecotypes. Explants derived from Zanjan ecotype had the highest potential for regeneration, in which about 17.5 shoots were produced per each explants in 12 weeks culture and showed the highest root induction (80%). These developed plantlets would be open possibilities for domestication and creation of new genotypes which leads to preservation of this species.