Morphogenetic Responses of "Dr Knight" and "Banati" Grapevine Cultivars to in vitro Culture Medium and Acclimatization Conditions

Abstract

Morphogenetic Responses of “Dr Knight” and “Banati” Grapevine Cultivars to in vitro Culture Medium and Acclimatization Conditions Name: Sarah Ibrahim Eissa Degree: M.Sc. (Horticulture) Thesis Abstract: This research included four experiments, carried out at Leena Plant Tissue Culture Laboratory to study the performance of “Dr Knight” and “Banati” grapevine cultivars in hormone free MS medium, response of "Banati" cultivar to different concentrations of benzyl adenine cytokinin (0.0, 0.3, 1.0 and 10 mg/l) and casein hydrolysate (0.0, 30, 60 and 90 mg/l) and the effect of growing media on acclimatization. The in vitro culture experiments were initiated from stock culture of the two cultivars using 1.5-2.0 cm length of shoot terminal. For acclimatization rooted in vitro propagated plantlets were placed in peatmoss, combination of peatmoss and sand (1:1 ratio), mixture of peatmoss and clay(1:1 ratio) and mixture of peatmoss, sand and clay (1:1:1 ratio) as growing media. The results of hormone free MS medium indicated that greater number of leaves and branches was associated with ‘Banati’ cultivar compared to ‘Dr. Knight’ cultivar. No differences were recorded in plant height measurements and number of roots between the two cultivars. A significantly greater reduction in number of leaves and plant height measurements were noted with all concentrations of BA compared to the control. Different concentrations showed no effect on branching up to the seventh week of culture and then an increase in branching was noted in the eighth week using 0.3 gm/L BA, and the lowest branching was associated with 10 gm/L BA concentration. During the eighth week of culture. The greatest root number was recorded with 0.3 gm/L BA and the greatest root length measurements were noted with 1.0 gm/L BA. The results of casein hydrolysate treatment revealed that the greatest values of all recorded parameters were associated with 30 mg/L casein hydrolysate, followed by 0.0, 60 and then 90 mg/L concentrations. The acclimatization of in vitro propagated ‘Dr. Knight’ and ‘Banati’ cultivars of grapevine grown in different media was studied. The results showed that the plantlets grown in a mixture of peatmoss and clay and a combined mixture of peatmoss, clay and sand failed to survive up to the second week. Plantlets grown in peatmoss resulted in greater values of all parameters compared to those plantlets grown in a mixture of peatmoss and sand