IN VITRO CULTURE OF TWO IRANIAN TABLE GRAPES AND DETERMINATION OF THE BEST CONDITIONS FOR THEIR MERISTEM CULTURE

Optimizing the in vitro culture condition for grapevine explants is the first step to apply biotechnology in breeding and producing pathogen free plants. This research was carried out during years 2002 and 2003 on two famous Iranian grape cultivars, ‘Bidane Sefid’ and ‘Shahroodi’. The first experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of medium (MS, 1/2MS, WPM) and kind of explants on number of shoots, length of shoots, leaf quality and size of callus during establishment stage. Explants from basal-middle parts of the shoots collected early September and cultured on MS medium produced the best results. In proliferation stage, the effects of BA and IBA at different concentrations in MS medium were investigated on number, length and quality of produced shoots. Eventually, 1 mg IBA/L induced best results for proliferation. To determine appropriate auxin concentration at rooting stage, the explants were cultured in 1/2MS medium with different IBA concentrations. Rooting was best in media without IBA and with 0.05 mg BA/L. The acclimatization step was carried out by transferring plantlets to greenhouse using growing medium containing perlite and peat in proportion of (1:1); plants were fertigated by diluted nutrient of MS medium. Surviving plants were evaluated after one month, in which 85% of 'Bidane Sefid' and 80% of 'Shahroodi' could be adapted to greenhouse conditions. Finally, on the basis of these results, a second experiment was conducted to study meristem culture in MS medium with different BA and IBA concentrations. The best result was obtained with 0.5 mg BA/L in ‘Bidane sefid’ and 1 mgL^-1 in ‘Shahroodi’.