In vitro Propagation of Potato under Different Hormonal Combinations

Potato (Solanum tuberosum) becoming a more important foodstuff in the world. The effect of hormones on in vitro micotuber formation and growth of potato were evaluated. The aim of this study was to establish a rapid protocol for in vitro propagation system of potato plants (Solanum tuberosum L.) cv. Diamant. The highest percentage of survived nodal segments was in surface sterilization with 0.2 % HgCl2 solution for 5 minutes. In vitro stages of shoot initiation, multiplication, elongation and rooting were successfully achieved by using nodal explants. The highest percentages of shoot initiation and multiplication (90%), node number (50%) and rooting (52 %) were observed on PS3 (MS medium containing 3 mg/l GA3 and 0.1 mg/l Kin) producing 14 shoots/magenta from 6 nodes and the lowest percentage (15%) was on MS medium without growth regulators. The highest recorded values of tuberization percentage, weight (25%) and number of microtuber per shoot (29%) were obtained with 5mg/l benzyl amino purine (BAP), while increasing concentration of BAP more than 5 mg/l decrease the average number and weight of microtubers. Generally, we found that, the most efficient medium for microtuber induction was PM3, followed by PM2 medium, while PM1 medium was proved to be unsuitable for early induction of microtubers. Plantlets with roots of 4 to 5 cm in length were successfully transferred to pots containing sterile greenhouse (clay: sand) in equal ratio for acclimatization, and about 90% of plants were survived.