Effect of Jasmonic Acid on Stimulating the Growth and Development of Date Palm Callus (Phoenix Dactylifera L.) Cultivar Shukar in Vitro under Salt Stress Conditions

Abstract

The study was conducted in the tissue culture laboratory at the Date Palm Research Center, University of Basrah. Using the date palm callus, Shukar cultivar, obtained from culturing the apical and axillary buds in sterile artificial nutrient media, to determine the effect of adding (0, 25, 50, 75) μM concentrations of Jasmonic acid (JA) to the MS media supplemented with several concentrations of NaCl (0, 50, 100, 200) mM were added, on the growth response and morphological development of callus after four months of cultivation in the propagation media. Results showed a significant decrease in growth characteristics in response to an increase in salt level, without the degree of callus browning that's increased with the increase in the level of sodium chloride, especially at the two levels (100, 200) mM. Results showed also that the addition of Jasmonic acid to the saline treatments greatly enhanced the growth parameters of culture callus, as the rate of biomass, water content, relative growth rate, and the number of somatic embryos generated. as well as the degree of browning decreased significantly according to the levels of sodium chloride and the concentrations of added Jasmonic acid. The study demonstrated the effective role of exogenous addition of Jasmonic acid in vitro culture systems in enhancing stress tolerance of cells and tissues cultured in saline media.