IMPROVEMENTS IN THE QUALITY OF MICROPROPAGATED ANTHURIUM ANDREANUM L. PLANTLETS BY THE USE OF BILAYER CULTURE TECHNIQUES: PRELIMINARY RESULTS

Anthurium andreanum is becoming increasingly important in the Caribbean, playing a part in the agricultural diversification programs of many governments. Planting material is generally mass produced via micropropagalion, during which Anthurium morphogenic callus is usually transferred to solid multiplication medium for shoot regeneration. The regeneration rate and the shoot quality, however, can sometimes be very poor, necessitating a prolonged culture period to produce plantlets of sufficient size and quality for weaning. The use of liquid media is known to enhance shoot regeneration in some species, but it also requires costly equipment in the form of rotary or oscillating shakers, and can induce shoot hvperhydricity (vitrification). An intermediate media form requiring no additional equipment, namely the bilayer, has many of the advantages of liquid culture with less of a tendency to induce hyperhydricity. The use of bilayer culture media was shown to stimulate and prolong Anthurium shoot production. Plantlets produced in this way were larger, with a greater number of leaves. The leaves, also, had a greater surface area and they appeared to be much darker green than those of the control. Further experiments indicate that these plantlets are hardier, surviving the weaning process well and quickly initiating new growth. The simple use of bilayer techniques can, therefore, be used to improve the quality of micropropagated Anthurium plantlets, while reducing the production time. This improved micropropagation efficiency better enables planting material produced in the Caribbean to compete with imports