Document Type : Original Article
Authors
1
M. Sc. Student, Department Genetics and Plant Breeding, Imam Khomeini International University, Qazvin, Iran.
2
Professor, Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding, Imam Khomeini International University, Qazvin, Iran.
3
Assistance Professor, Iranian Agricultural Biotechnology Research Institute, Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Organization, Qazvin, Iran.
4
Assistance Professor, Seed and Plant Improvement Institute, Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Organization (AREEO), Qazvin, Iran.
10.30466/rip.2022.53702.1191
Abstract
The date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) is a monocotyledonous, dioecious, perennial plant with a long lifespan and high economic importance in Iran. Asexual embryogenesis is one of the most effective and promising methods for large-scale propagation of commercial and elite palm cultivars. However, tissue culture methods, including somatic embryogenesis, can lead to somaclonal variation resulting from genetic and epigenetic changes. This lack of genetic stability in tissue culture-derived plantlets often discourages orchardists from using such plants. In this study, the genetic stability of four maternal date palms and 180 in vitro plantlets derived from somatic embryogenesis was evaluated in the ‘Medjool’ date cultivar using 24 pairs of SSR primers. Six control date cultivars (‘Kabkab’, ‘Piyarom’, ‘Stamaran’, ‘Deiri’, ‘Zahedi’, and ‘Barhi’) were used to screen SSR primers for their ability to reveal polymorphism among cultivars. The results showed that none of the primers detected differences between the tissue culture-derived plants and their maternal plants. This indicates that the date palms propagated through tissue culture via somatic embryogenesis were genetically identical to their maternal source. Therefore, the use of in vitro somatic embryogenesis is recommended as a rapid and cost-effective method for the propagation of ‘Medjool’ date palm.
Keywords
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