In Vitro Shoot Regeneration and Development of Microcorms of Moroccan Saffron (Crocus sativus L.)

Abstract

Crocus sativus L. is a male sterile vegetatively propagated plant. Its flower produces stigmas that when dried, constitute the source of a spice commonly known as Saffron. Slow vegetative propagation and diseases limit the production and the development of saffron. “In vitro” culture could be an effective method to overcome these limitations by improving the quantity and the quality of the planting materials. In this work, Crocus sativus L. segments corms of cultivar from the region of Taliouine (Southeast of Morocco) were used for the propagation through indirect organogenesis. To optimize the in vitro growth conditions, we have used the Murashige and Skoog medium (MS medium), supplemented with 2.4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2.4-D) and with 6-benzylaminopurin (BAP) at combination of various concentrations. Our results showed the formation of callus in 85.42% of explants that grow in a culture medium supplemented with 2,4-D combined with BAP, at a concentration of 1mg/l each. In addition, we observed that increasing the concentration of BAP in the culture medium to 1.5mg/l improved the rate of shoots initiation (0.81). In the meantime, we noted that a combination of BAP (8mg/l) and Naphthalene acetic acid (NAA; 2mg/l) has significantly improved the rate of the formation of advanced shoots (6.65). Finally, the shoots that developed were transferred to an induction medium of roots and corms. As a result, we observed that 50% of shoots tested in ½ MS medium supplemented with 2.4-D and of BAP (1 mg/l each) and 5% sucrose, formed corms. Our study provides a first database for in vitro culture of Moroccan saffron cultivars.

Saffron In Vitro Propagation: An Innovative Method by Temporary Immersion System (TIS), Integrated with Machine Learning Analysis

“…Due to their higher resistance to the challenges sometimes associated with classic artificial intelligence approaches, SVMs are distinguished by this special quality [37]. The SVM algorithm, which helps identify which class has the longest separator plane, is declared in Equation (7).…”

“…Many papers that have reported on in vitro saffron propagation come from several countries [5,7,[38][39][40][41] and some reviews [42][43][44] have collected all the information on this fundamental method for propagating the Crocus spp. [2], especially in C. sativus, to develop callus or new shoot buds and obtain new microcorms formation.…”

“…Therefore, different propagation pathways, such as in vitro culture, have been investigated. In vitro propagation has already been successfully applied to saffron from different geographical origins, i.e., Iran [5], India [6], Morocco [7], Türkiye [8], China [9], and Spain [10], allowing its culture in sterile, controlled conditions and without season dependency. However, the Temporary Immersion System (TIS) approach can be considered for large-scale in vitro propagation and rapid acclimatization.…”