Studies on Rooting of Blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum L.) Shoots Propagated by Tissue Culture

Abstract

The rooting stage of woody and shrubby plants propagated under in vitro conditions is important. Completion of this stage without any problems is of critical importance in economical micropropagation with tissue culture. In addition to the ease of in vitro rooting, suitability for ex vitro rooting is also desired in order to reduce costs. Blueberry shoots proliferated in media containing DKW + 2 mg.L^-1 zeatin + 30 g.L^-1 sucrose + 6.5 g.L^-1 agar were separated one by one after the 3rd subculture and transferred to rooting media. Shoots of  Duke and O’Neal varieties were grown in MS and DKW media supplemented with 1.0 and 1.5 mg.L^-1 IBA and 0.0 and 0.5 mg.L^-1 GA₃. In the next stage, the IBA dose was adjusted to 5 mg.L^-1 and 1.5 g.L^-1 activated carbon was added to it. In addition to agar media, the SETIS® bioreactor was also used in rooting experiments. In addition, ex vitro rooting experiment was established in vials placed on stagnant water. It was determined that the most successful rooting was obtained from O’Neal variety at a rate of 85% in the medium containing DKW + 1.0 mg.L^-1 IBA + 0.5 mg.L^-1 GA₃ + 6.5 g.L^-1 agar. Ex vitro rooting application did not yield any results, and the TIS system was also found to be successful in rooting.