Silicon in micropropagation of strawberry cv. 'Jonica'

Abstract

The addition of silicon (Si) to the culture media has shown beneficial action for the growth and development of seedlings of several species in vitro cultivated. This paper aimed to determine the effect of potassium silicate on the in vitro propagation of strawberry (Fragaria x ananassa Duch). Seedlings from Italian ‘Jonica’ strawberry obtained from shoots apex in vitro regenerated were cultured in glass vials containing 30 ml of the MS culture medium solidified with 6 g l-1 agar. Five concentrations of potassium silicate (0.0, 0.5, 1.0, 1.5 and 2.0 g l-1) were added to the culture medium. The pH was adjusted to 5.8 ± 0.2 prior sterilization by autoclave. The experiment was maintained in a growth room with irradiance of 42 μmol m-2 s-1, at 25 ± 2 °C and 16 hours photoperiod. The variables analysed were number of shoots, average length of shoots (cm), number of leaves, SPAD index and number of roots and average length of roots (cm). For most of the analysed variables, a decrease was observed as a function of the increase in Si concentration. Thus, for the micropropagation of strawberry cv. 'Jonica', the concentrations of Si tested did not show a beneficial effect.

Keywords

• culture medium
• multiplication
• rooting
• tissue culture