Micropropagation of Handroanthus heptaphyllus (Vell.) Mattos from seedling explants

Abstract

Handroanthus heptaphyllus (Vell.) Mattos (Bignoniaceae), a tropical forest tree, is a source of wood suitable for the manufacture of fine furniture and chemical compounds with medicinal and insecticidal properties. Poor seed viability of this species limits the conventional propagation practice. In vitro germination of seeds was achieved in semi-solid Murashige and Skoog's (MS) medium. A disinfection protocol was optimized for germination and growth of seedlings in vitro. Proliferation of shoots from cotyledonary and stem nodal segments was achieved in semi-solid MS medium supplemented with 22.2 µM 6-benzyladenine. Temporary immersion culture promoted elongation and rooting of shoots and reduced the shoot tip necrosis compared with culture on semisolid medium (6.7±2.7 and 41.7±7.0%, respectively; P = 0.001). Plantlets derived from temporary immersion showed better performance during the acclimatization phase. This is the first report on micropropagation of H. heptaphyllus.

Establecimiento in vitro de semillas de una especie con importancia maderera y melífera del Bosque Atlántico

“…Contar con un establecimiento in vitro de semillas es importante porque permite la utilización de material juvenil en la micropropagación y esto es fundamental en las especies leñosas porque, a medida que aumenta en edad los explantes, estos liberan mayor cantidad de compuestos fenólicos al medio, que posteriormente dañan la base del explante y dificultan la absorción de nutrientes y fitoreguladores, afectando negativamente la sobrevivencia de los mismos (Thomas y Ravindra, 1997;Duarte et al, 2016).…”