Sucrose and hyperhydricity in the micropropagation of garlic seeds in vitro

Abstract

In agricultural crops that present bulbification, the production of the bulb organ is the most important stage when cultivated through micropropagation as it involves a sensitive transition from the sprout to the bulb phase. As garlic is a crop that propagates mainly vegetatively through garlic seeds produced in vitro, it is important to understand and control the factors involved in this bulbification process. The objective of this work was to study hyperhydricity and biometry after the transition from shoot to bulb of in vitro garlic seedlings of two noble cultivars: Ito and Quitéria in MS culture medium with sucrose at concentrations of 0, 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10%. It was found that the addition of sucrose to the culture medium at a concentration of 8% in the bulbing phase resulted in better productive characteristics, and it did not increase the degree of hyperhydricity of the microbulbs obtained in both cultivars. The Ito cultivar produced a higher bulbing percentage and quantity of bulbs per plant than the Quitéria cultivar. Furthermore, it was found that there was a strong negative correlation between the vegetative characteristics fresh mass of roots and fresh mass of shoots with the reproductive characteristics of number of bulbs per plant and fresh mass of bulbs, which demonstrate that the plant in the bulbification phase directs efforts towards bulbification to the detriment of the vegetative part and this pattern can guide plant improvement programs for the species.