Micropropagation of Shorea leprosula (meranti tembaga) using a temporary immersion system (RITA system)

Kandasamy, K. I. and A. R., Siti Suhaila and A. A., Rosilah (2005) Micropropagation of Shorea leprosula (meranti tembaga) using a temporary immersion system (RITA system). [Conference or Proceeding]

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Abstract

Shorea leprosula belongs to the family Dipterocarpaceae, and its synonyms are Hopea maranti Miq., Shorea maranti Burck, Shorea astrostricta Scort. Ex. Foxw, and the common name (in Malaysia) is meranti tembaga. This dipterocarp species has been propagated mostly through seeds and cuttings; however the seed production is erratic and infrequent. Furthermore, the seeds deteriorate rapidly in storage (a behavior associated with recalcitrant seeds). In addition, production of cuttings from mature trees is difficult and plagiotropic growth of shoots from cuttings is common. In recent years, many researchers have been reporting on the use of tissue culture techniques to address these problems, however most used embryo or axillary buds as starting material. Nevertheless, there is an increasing interest in clonal propagation of dipterocarp species by tissue culture because the forest of Dipterocarpaceae has been disappearing rapidly. Thus, the development of an efficient culture method for mass production of dipterocarp is important. Although, it was reported that this species does not tolerate watery soil, but it is worth noting that the water uptake by this plant is quite high. Thus, we believe that this plant could be manipulated (for propagation via micropropagation) using a suitable temporary-immersion system. In this paper, we will be reporting the ability to successfully micropropagate Shorea leprosula by using a temporary-immersion technique, the RITA system. Shoot cultures from existing tissue culture material (maintained in semi-solid medium) at FRIM’s Tissue Culture Laboratory were used as starting material for this study. Subsequent shoots obtained from this study were successfully rooted and acclimatised using our proprietary weaning chamber in our greenhouse.

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