Callogenesis of Heliconia collinsiana GRIGGS in vitro: establishment, induction and proliferation

Abstract

Heliconias are grown as ornamental plants and cut flower pot. In Mexico is increasingly grown in States with tropical climatic conditions. While it is possible in vitro propagation of Heliconia by direct organogenesis, it has not yet been able to establish protocols for both indirect organogenesis and somatic embryogenesis for mass propagation of elite genotypes. The purpose of this research was to develop a protocol for callus induction and proliferation in vitro in Heliconia collinsiana. Explants of root tips, leaf, petiole and basal cross sections of pseudostem were cultivated in the culture medium of Murashige and Skoog (1962) supplemented with 13.6, 27.1, 54.3, 81.4, 108.6 and 135.7 μm of 2,4-D, dicamba and picloram combined with activated carbon (0 to 0.5 g L-1). The cultures were kept in the dark and four, eight and 12 weeks were evaluated percentage of callus induction. Only cross sections calluses induced pseudostem at the baseline at 12 weeks with 81.4 (100%) and 135.7 (90%) μM of 2,4-D and picloram, respectively, combined with 0.5 g L-1 of activated carbon. This callus by sub-cultivating them in 0, 4.5 and 9 μM of 2, 4-D in the proliferation stage responded differently.After 16 weeks, only the calluses induced continued to grow with 81.4 μM of 2, 4-D in photoperiod of 16 h. The callus generated with 135.7 μM of picloram got blackened at four weeks of culture in all the treatments.