IN VIVO SERIAL MICROGRAFTING OF CASTANEA SATIVA IN SHORT CYCLES

Mature material of Castanea sativa has been serially grafted on 4-week-old chestnut seedlings in growth chamber conditions.
The mature scions were: (a) nodes from shoots emerged from branch segments (from the crown of the tree) forced in a growth chamber (clone ‘EPS-CR’), and (b) nodes from in vitro cultures of two selected clones (clones ‘Loura’ and ‘Parede’). The graft technique was a miniaturized simple cleft graft.
Once the grafts had taken and the scions had elongated and developed new buds (40-60 days after grafting), new scions/explants were obtained and either re-grafted (clones ‘Loura’, ‘Parede’ and ‘EPS-CR’) or established in vitro (clone ‘EPS-CR’). Three grafting cycles were completed.
The graft-take has ranged from about 20% in clone ‘EPS-CR’ to 50-90% in clones ‘Loura’ and ‘Parede’. In clones ‘Loura’ and ‘Parede’, grafted scions treated with GA3 can supply, every 40-60 days, about 6 new scions per successful graft.
In clone ‘EPS-CR’, in vitro reactivity, multiplication rate and rooting percentage of grafted and ungrafted material was compared, and no significant differences have been observed by now.
This technique could be useful for different purposes, i.e., as a rapid propagation system to produce grafted plants, as a method to increase explant availability for micropropagation or as a method of rejuvenation of mature material.

I European Congress on Chestnut – Castanea 2009

J.L. Fernández-Lorenzo, S. Crecente-Campo

chestnut, micropropagation, rejuvenation, plant production

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2010.866.35