In Vitro Propagation of Tomato by Shoot Apical Meristem Culture1

Abstract

A procedure has been developed to regenerate plants in high frequency from meristems of tomato ( Lycopersicon esculentum Mill. cv. Starfire). Shoot apical meristems isolated from 7-day-old seedlings were aseptically cultured on a Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with varying concentrations of cytokinins and auxins under defined environmental conditions. Benzyladenine (BA) or zeatin (Z) at various concentrations from 0.1 to 10 µ m induced shoot differentiation in high frequency. All levels of BA or Z in conjunction with indoleacetic acid (IAA) also induced shoot differentiation. Whole plant regeneration occurred in media with hormone concentrations as follows: 1) BA and naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA) in the range of 0.1 to 1.0 µ m , 2) 10 µ m Z in conjunction with 1.0 µ m NAA or vice-versa and 3) 10 µ m IAA.