Meristem culture of two fig cultivars in Turkey

Introduction. Two Turkish fig cultivars, Alkuden and Bursa Siyahi, were propagated by meristem culture to eliminate the fig mosaic virus. The technique of dsRNA analysis was conducted on the in vitro propagated plants to test for virus-free status. Materials and methods. Four different Murashige and Skoog (MS) media complemented with different concentrations of growth hormones (GA3, BA and IBA) were compared to study the cultured meristems' survival rate, shoot formation and rooting. Short- and long-term thermotherapy treatments were also applied. Results. For survival rate, 0.2 mg GA 3·L-1 + 0.5 mg BA·L-1 gave the most favorable results; for shoot formation, it was the medium with 0.2 mg GA3·L-1 + 2.0 mg BA·L-1 which was the best, while rooting rate was the highest for meristems cultured on MS medium with only 0.1 mg GA3·L-1. Conclusion. Meristem culture, together with thermotherapy treatment, is recommended to obtain virus-free fig plant material. Although cultured plants seemed to be very healthy, dsRNA virus tests are recommended for sensitive evaluation of the sanitary status of the plants obtained. © 2007 Cirad/EDP Sciences. All rights reserved