Micropropagation of Purple Yam

News source: The Philippine Council for Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resources Research and Development (PCARRD)
For further information: PCARRD Highlights 2000. Fax: (63) (49) 536-0016, 2001-03-01

More Efficient TC Technique

Researchers Acedo and Labana of the Visayas State College of Agriculture, Leyte, Philippines, have developed a more efficient tissue culture technique for the micropropagation of two purple yam varieties, VU-2 and Kinampay. Nodal explants from greenhouse-grown plants were used. The recommended steps are as follows:

Four-Step Method

Tissue sterilization. Sterilize nodal segments, using benomyl as a dip and two-stage calcium hypochlorite

( CaOCl2) to minimize contamination.

Stock plant establishment. Use Murashige and Skoog basal medium to induce shoot and root formation.

Optimization of micropropagation. Use single nodal segments of stockplants to start as explants for multiplication. Increase sucrose level of the MS medium from 2% to 5% to enhance root and shoot development. Production of complete plantlets also increases from 56% with 2% sucrose to 89% with 5% sucrose. The use of table sugar as sucrose substitute decreases the cost of micropropagation by about 18%.

Potting out. Use either garden soil or a 1:1 combination of garden soil and river sand as potting medium to obtain 90-100% plant survival for VU-2 or 85-90% for Kinampay. After one month of incubation, transfer plantlets into pots.

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