CULTIVAR DIFFERENCES OF DATE PALM (PHOENIX DACTYLIFERA L.) IN SOMATIC EMBRYOGENESIS MICROPROPAGATION

Date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) propagation commonly occurs via somatic embryogenesis. A similar nutrient medium composition is used for all date palm cultivars. The objective of this study is to evaluate the performance of two cultivars using the standard somatic embryogenesis nutrient medium composition. Callus was initiated from an in vivo actively growing cultivar (‘Mishrig wad Khateeb’) and a slowly growing one (‘Mishrig wad Laggai’) following the same steps. Callus growth prior to differentiation, expressed in fresh weight, frequency of initiation, number of resultant somatic embryos and time needed for their establishment were determined. Results indicated callus initiated two weeks earlier in MWK compared to MWL with significantly heavier weights. Similarly, significant differences exist in the overall number of somatic embryos formed. There were no conspicuous differences in rooting of the two cultivar plantlets. There were cytological and chemical differences between the two cultivars.