Micropropagation of old cultivars of scented cut roses

Rose is one of the major ornamental crops grown worldwide. In Italy, its cultivation began in Western Liguria in the first half of 1900s, where beautiful and intensely fragrant rose hybrids were grown for gardens and for cut flower production. Nowadays, many old cultivars have disappeared, while others, although forgotten, are still preserved. In the framework of the RD (Rural Development) project of Liguria Region (2007-2013) “Innovation, introduction and commercial exploitation of historic roses in Western Liguria”, a study was undertaken, aiming at rediscovering and preserving old rose cultivars. Specific guidelines for successful grafting were established and a valorisation process to re-introduce them into the market was performed. Tissue culture techniques are a valuable tool to restore valuable genotypes and to provide the growers with healthy buds to be grafted. In this paper, we present the micropropagation protocol pointed out for five old rose cultivars and their characterization using molecular markers.