FACTORS AFFECTING INDUCTION AND SURVIVAL OF CELL SUSPENSION CULTURES OF TULIP (TULIPA GESNERIANA L.)

For tulip, a monocotyledonous species, progress in the application of biotechnologies and particularly genetic manipulation must be obtained. Cell suspension cultures improve the efficiency of transformation techniques using Agrobacterium or particle gun. Successful plant regeneration by in vitro culture of tulip scape stem discs has been achieved (Le Nard, 1989; Le Nard et al., 1992) and callus formation from embryos and in vitro bulblets has been reported (Famelaer et al., 1996). However, callus induction in T. gesneriana, using scape explants from growing tulip plants has not yet been achieved for use as a mass propagation technique.