Somaclonal variations in flower and inflorescence axis in micropropagated plants through flower stalk bud culture of Phalaenopsis and Doritaenopsis

Abstract

Somaclonal variations in flower and inflorescence axis were investigated among the plants micropropagated through protocorm-like bodies induced by flower stalk bud culture of various cultivars of Phalaenopsis and Doritaenopsis. Eighteen hundred to 14,750 micropropagated plants were grown for each of 11 genotypes in greenhouses for 1-1.5 years till flowering. Somaclonal variations appeared in flower and inflorescence were classified into 9 categories irrespective of cultivars. The frequencies of these somaclonal variations in each genotype ranged from 0 to 100%, but most of the cultivars showed variations less than 10%. Changes in leaf shapes and ploidy level were not detected in. these variants. Possible mechanisms involved in these variations and the problems of the micropropagation method used in this study were discussed.