Thidiazuron-induced in vitro bud organogenesis of the date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) CV. Hillawi

Abstract

The objective of the present was to enhance the frequency of plant regeneration in date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) cv. Hillawi. Explants were incubated on Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with 1 mgl^-1 6-benzyladenine (BA) and different concentrations (0.1 to 2.0 mgl^-1) of thidiazuran (TDZ), or free of BA and TDZ (control treatment). The results indicate that the Maximum response (66.67%) was observed on medium supplemented with 1.0 mgl^-1 BA and 0.5 mgl^-1 TDZ, producing an average of 4.2 and 18.2 buds per culture after 16 and 24 week from culture, respectively. TDZ at concentrations higher than 0.5 mgl^-1 resulted in suppressed buds formation, where a decrease in the number of buds was noticed when the concentration of TDZ was increased from 0.5 to 2 mgl^-1. Regarding the activity of antioxidant enzyme peroxidase during budding of date palm cv. Hillawi, (The chemical analyses of  peroxidase compounds were spectrophotometrically performed) the applied concentration of 0.5 mgl^-1 TDZ with 1 mgl^-1 BA enhanced peroxidase activity, where peroxidase activity was associated with increased number of buds formation. Histological studies revealed that adventitious buds were formed directly from epidermal cells without callus formation, and adventitious buds were developed from meristematic cells in shoot tip tissues. Shoots were elongated on 0.5 mgl^-1 GA3+ 0.1 mgl^-1 NAA MS media and rooted on MS media supplemented with 0.2 mgl^-1 of α-naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA). Rooted shoots were successfully acclimatized and established in a mixture of peat moss and perlite (2:1) with 80% success.

Keywords: Date palm, thidiazuran (TDZ), adventitious buds, peroxidase (POD), histology.

African Journal of Biotechnology, Vol 13(31) 3581-3590