In vitro culture of Luma chequen from vegetative buds

Abstract

Luma chequen, a small tree or large shrub belonging to the Myrtaceae family, is endemic to South America and has medicinal, nutritional and ornamental potential. However, its native habitat is deteriorating gradually, and it is suffering from the effects of fragmentation that is being caused by the conversion of forest land to agricultural land and the natural expansion of monocultural plantations of exotic species, such as Pinus radiata. The purpose of this work is to develop an effective procedure for establishing in vitro cultures of the native Chilean species L. chequen. Aseptic nodal segments were evaluated after exposure to a disinfecting agent (1% solution of sodium hypochlorite) for different lengths of time. Murashige and Skoog (MS) or Woody Plant (WPM) culture media with 6-Bencilaminopurine (BAP) or 2-isopentenil adenine (2-iP) added to a concentration of 1 mg L-1 were evaluated. Although no significant differences were observed between cultures with and without additives, 40.43% of the explant cultures were successfully established. Furthermore, the choice of basal medium or the addition of plant growth regulators was not found to affect the shoot formation efficiency.