ISHS Acta Horticulturae 736: III International Date Palm Conference
PLANT-OFF-TYPES IN TISSUE CULTURE-DERIVED DATE PALM (PHOENIX DACTYLIFERA L) PLANTS |
| Authors: | H.H. Al Kaabi, A. Zaid, C. Ainsworth |
| Keywords: | organogenesis, embryogenesis, somaclonal variation, AFLP, true-to-typeness |
| Abstract:
Trueness-to-type and occurrence of abnormalities are the most serious problems associated with date palm tissue culture. The aim of the present investigation was to study the morphological abnormalities in tissue culture-derived date palms. A survey of embryogenesis-derived trees in the field identified various abnormalities including abnormal leaves and inflorescences, dwarfing, leaf bleaching, deformed offshoots, delayed flowering time, pollination failure and abnormal fruiting. Some varietal specificity was noted. AFLP was used as a fingerprinting tool to verify somaclonal variation in plants derived from tissue culture. Variability amongst 40 date plants produced by organogenesis and embryogenesis, in terms of numbers of plants which showed aberrant patterns, was found to be 5% and 12.8%, respectively. However, based on the total numbers of variant DNA fragments, plants derived from embryogenesis showed a much higher level of variability (0.6%) than those regenerated via organogenesis (0.038%). The identification and early detection of off-type plants will help avoid the occurrence and propagation of these abnormalities in the future. | |
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