Regeneration capacity of Cerasus fruticosa and Prunus domestica into the in vitro culture

Abstract

Abstract. The aim of these studies was to introduce into the in vitro culture the steppe cherry (Cerasus fruticosa) variety Shchedraya and the domestic plum (Prunus domestica) variety Sineokaya for subsequent micropropagation. Methods. Optimal conditions for obtaining viable explants, such as sterilizing agent and initiation time, have been investigated. The suitability of various nutrient media for in vitro cultivation of these cultures has also been tested. As a result of the experiments, it was revealed that the most effective sterilizing agents were 38 % perhydrol (control) and 6% chlorhexidine: the yield of viable cherry explants was 63.8 % and 61.5 %, plums – 69.8 % and 66.6 %, respectively. The optimal time for the initiation of cherry explants in vitro was January, where the yield of viable explants averaged 53.9 %, in June – 49.1 %, and for plums the initiation time did not matter – the yield of explants was 55.8 % in winter and 53.1 % in summer. In vitro cultivation of cherries and plums on the Quoirin – Lepoivre nutrient medium provided a significantly high multiplication factor, which averaged 4.1 for cherries (2.7 in control) and 6.0 for plums (3.9 in control). On the same medium, the maximum multiplication factor was obtained, which was 6.2 for cherries and 8.2 for plums. Thus, the scientific novelty of these studies is that the optimal conditions (sterilizing agent, time, nutrient medium) have been selected for the regeneration of cherry and plum explants in vitro with their subsequent micropropagation.