COMMERCIAL MICROPROPAGATION OF FIVE ALNUS SPECIES

Clonal micropropagation was demonstrated as feasible on a commercial basis for several clones of five A l n u s species. Approximately 60 000 ready-to-root individual shoots were multiplied in vitro on modified MS media supplemented with 2.5–5 uM BAP. A total of 15 500 shoots from different clones were rooted in vitro on half-strength MS medium including 1–5 uM IBA. They were transferred under mist conditions into growth chamber illuminated with High Pressure Sodium Lamps. Those conditions gave 99–100% plantlet survival after four weeks. Plantlets were then inoculated with selected F r a n k i a sp. strains. These nodulated alder plants are under field evaluation at the Canadian Forestry Service in Chalk River, Ontario.

Species and clones used were: A. glutinosa, clones AG-1, AG-2 (Périnet and Lalonde, 1983), AG-3, AG-4, and AG-8; A. incana, clones AI-1 and AI-2; A. japonica, clones AJ-6 and AJ-7; A. rubra, clones ARb-8 and ARb-10; and, A. crispa, clones AC-15 (Tremblay and Lalonde, 1984) and AC-4 (non-nodulating) (Tremblay et al. 1984).