In vitro development of zygotic embryo of date palm

Abstract

Zygotic embryo culture is a technique used to surpass dormancy of seeds, to study nutritional and physiological aspects of the embryo development, to recover hybrids of incompatible crossings and as sources of explants with high tot potency. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) and BAP (6-benzilaminopurine) in the development of in vitro zygotic embryos of date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) cv. khadrawy. Mature zygotic embryos were inoculated in MS medium with 30 g L-1 sucrose, 0.1 g L-1 myo-inositol,
7 g L-1 agar and three different hormonal combinations: (0.05; 0.1 and 0.2 mg L-1) IAA and (5; 10 and 20 mg L-1) BAP, besides a medium control, without regulators. A negative effect of the addition of IAA and BAP regulators was observed, with the production of abnormal plantlets.  The combinations of 0.05 mg L-1 IAA + 5 mg L-1 BAP and 0.1 mg L-1 IAA + 10 mg L-1 BAP were equally significant for the obtainment of bigger leaf number. Medium without regulators produced more complete plantlets. Therefore, the best development of the embryos occurred in medium without growth regulators, with 66.6% of conversion of zygotic embryos in plantlets.