© 1987 Heron Publishing—Victoria, Canada
Micropropagation of mature Calabrian pine (Pinus brutia Ten.) from fascicular buds
Anwar A. Abdullah (1), Michael M. Yeoman (2) and J. Grace (1)
1. Department of Forestry and Natural Resources, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, EH9 3JU, Scotland / 2. Department of Botany, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, EH9 3JH, Scotland / Received October 29, 1986
Summary
Dormant meristems of fascicles explanted from 10-year-old, field-grown trees of Pinus brutia Ten. were cultured in vitro. Browning of cultured fascicles was reduced by including 150 mg l–1 sodium diethyldithiocarbamate (SDD) in a cytokinin-containing medium. The stage of development of fascicles when placed in
culture affected both shoot-bud production and the degree of browning. Only fascicles at an advanced stage of development
had a high rate of shoot-bud production. Fascicles cultured for 6 weeks in initiation medium containing 150 mg l–1 SDD and then for 4 weeks in initiation medium containing 1 mg l–1 insoluble polyvinylpolypyrrolidone showed the highest rate (23%) of shoot-bud development and the lowest rate (15%) of browning.
Elongation of activated shoot buds was considerably enhanced by reducing the concentration of cytokinin in the culture medium.
Only shoots ≥ 20 mm in height were capable of producing further crops of buds and shoots. When treated with a combination
of auxin and cytokinin, only 16% of the elongated shoots produced roots.
