MORPHOLOGICAL ABNORMALITIES IN TISSUE CULTURE-DERIVED DATE PALM (PHOENIX DACTYLIFERA L.)

Tissue culture is an important means of mass propagation of date palms.
Although this technology presents several advantages, appearance of plant off-types is often associated with tissue culture-derived plants.
The present study aimed to assess the occurrence and importance of morphological abnormalities in five important date cultivars propagated by tissue culture techniques.
Dwarfism was observed at a high incidence (18%) in ‘Sukkari’ propagated by indirect embryogenesis.
Scarcity in flowering, fertilization failure and bastard offshoots did not exceed 5% in the plants studied.
Excessive vegetative growth, uneven ripening, delay in flowering and abnormal morphology and structure occurred with a very low incidence of less than 1%. The results obtained in this investigation provide valuable information to plant tissue culturists and date growers alike as guidance in the selection of the best propagation technique for each cultivar.

III International Date Palm Conference

H.S. Al-Mazroui, A. Zaid, N. Bouhouche

somaclonal variation, organogenesis, somatic embryogenesis

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2007.736.31