EFFICIENT MICROPROPAGATION VIA SOMATIC EMBRYOGENESIS OF POTENTIAL CULTIVAR SAGAI OF PHOENIX DACTYLIFERA L.
The plantlets of date palm were regenerated using somatic embryogenesis. The combination of phytohormones, 5 mg BA/L and 80 mg 2,4-D/L gave the highest percentage of callus induction (88%) as compared to the other combinations. Moreover, significant differences were found between the explants (shoot tip and leaf primordia) in the induction of callus. The first initial callus emergence was observed in a shortest period (25.5 days) with above combination. The highest mean values index for the formation of embryogenic callus was 4.75 on MS medium containing 5 mg NAA/L and 2.5 mg BA/L. The best result on somatic embryogenesis was observed on 1/3 of MS medium, and 13 weeks of culture duration. The highest percent germination of somatic embryos was found 100% on MS media with full salt strength supplemented with 0.7 mg IBA/L or MS media having half salt strength supplemented with 0.5 mg IBA/L. The highest number of roots with length were observed on MS medium supplemented with 60 g/L of sucrose or ¼ strength of MS medium. At the acclimatization stage, the combination of peat moss and perlite (2:1 ratio) gave the maximum percentage of survival of plants (86.66%) with significant difference.
