Propagation of pistachio applying in vitro culture techniques

Abstract

Pistachio grafting often shows a high degree of uncertainty, with variable and inconsistent results with commonly used rootstocks, producing irregular orchards and frequent regrafting. Besides, the size of the buds of pistachio cultivars far exceeds that of the juvenile rootstock terebinth (Pistacia terebinthus L.), widely used in Spain, making pistachio grafting more difficult. Here, we have applied in vitro techniques to obtain reduced-size cultivars that match to the rootstock size. By reducing bud/scion of pistachio cultivars we can thus graft them on terebinth seedlings few weeks after germination. The female cultivars 'Larnaka', 'Kerman' and 'Sirora', as well as the male cultivar 'Peters' and the selection AD15 have been successfully cultivated in vitro. Grafting was performed on juvenile terebinth plants grown in small containers using a) micropropagated and acclimatized pistachio plants or b) in vitro grown shoot-tips as scion source. We have got up to 68% successful grafts with scions derived from in vitro techniques. Scions resumed growth few days after grafting, and time required to obtain new plants was significantly shortened.

Combining DOE With Neurofuzzy Logic for Healthy Mineral Nutrition of Pistachio Rootstocks in vitro Culture

“…The ingredients of culture medium, including mineral nutrients, significantly affect pistachio shoots growth (Akdemir et al, 2012; Kilinç et al, 2015; Marín et al, 2017). Recently, a new medium for pistachio was developed using artificial intelligence tools, even with a poorly sampled experimental design (Nezami-Alanagh et al, 2017).…”

“…To avoid those problems, different alternatives have been suggested, based mainly on the combination of macro-, micro-elements and/or vitamins previously proposed for improving the effectiveness of the multiplication of shoots (Onay, 2000; Tilkat et al, 2005, 2008; Benmahioul et al, 2012), or on the incorporation of additional ingredients to the basal culture media, such as calcium gluconate, silver nitrate, ascorbic acid or vanillin, among others (Abousalim and Mantell, 1992, 1994; Parfitt and Almehdi, 1994; Dolcet-Sanjuan and Claveria, 1995; Mederos-Molina and Trujillo, 1999; Akdemir et al, 2012; Kilinç et al, 2015; Marín et al, 2017). …”

A novel approach for propagation of recalcitrant pistachio cultivars that sidesteps rooting by ex vitro grafting of tissue cultured shoot tips

“…New shoots were transferred to the same medium (30 ml) in Sigma baby food jars (V8630) and then subcultured every 3 weeks onto the same medium. A modified Long and Preece medium (LP, Long et al 1995) that combines mineral salts formulations from WPM (Lloyd and McCown 1981) and DKW media was used to improve the micropropagation of 'Kerman', providing better quality shoots than DKW (Marín et al 2015).…”