Optimization of barberry micropropagation

ABSTRACT The creation of an in vitro collection of aseptic plants is the first stage for the preservation of genetic diversity of barberry in a cryobank and production of mother plantations in natural habitats. Seedlings and plantlets of barberry were obtained from seeds and cuttings, respectively, using biotechnological methods to produce aseptic plants. Scarification and stratification is required for seeds of some species that are difficult to germinate in wet perlite. Treatment of explants with 0.1% HgCl2 for 8 min is optimal for in vitro culture and produces 46.4%regeneration.In vitro plants were tested for the presence of infection in a specialized 523 medium to detect bacteria and fungi. On average,44.5% of the in vitro shoots in all the tested accessions were affected by endophytic infection. The composition of the nutrient medium was optimized as Murashige-Skoog medium with 166 mg/l CaCl2, 3.7 g/l MgSO4·7H2O, 30 g/l sucrose, 0.8 mg/l 6-benzylaminopurine, 0.02 mg/l indole butyric acid, 0.1 mg/l gibberellic acid, 2 mg/l calcium pantothenate, 1 mg/l ascorbic acid, 1.75 g/l gelrite, 4 g/l agar, pH 5.7. A maximum multiplication factor of 4.3 and high quality of regenerated plants were obtained using the optimized medium. A biotechnological regulation was developed to obtain an in vitro collection of barberry plants and a collection consisting of 51 accessions was created. This collection will serve as the basis for the creation of cryobank of Kazakhstan barberry germplasm and for international exchange of plant resources. Key words: barberry, seeds, shoots, micropropagation, in vitro collection