Micropropagation of Amygdalus scoparia L. by bud and embryo culture

Amygdalus scoparia L. is an important species of Rosaceae. The species is endemic of Iran and resistant to heat and drought for which, the species has been used in civil green landscape designing projects and endemic byproducts. A. scoparia normally produces bitter seeds, whoever, only one Amygdalus tree with sweet seeds was found among bitter Amygdalus stands in Naein, a city in center part of the country. Due to the importance of the tree with sweet seeds, micropropagation of the single tree would be of interest, particularly for preservation of the genetic resources. Propagation of one tree of each sweet and bitter genotype through micropropagation by bud and embryo culture was performed. Sterilization treatment was done by cleaning and brushing of buds by detergent and 70% ethanol solution, followed by dipping the buds in 0.1% HgCl2 solution for 2 minutes during the spring season for both of genotypes. The suitable method for seed surface sterilizing was washing in tap water and then dipping in 0.1% HgCl2 solution during 1 minutes for the sweet and 3 minutes for the bitter genotype. The best medium for shoot proliferation was DKW along with BA (0.5 mg/l), IBA (0.1 mg/l) and TDZ (0.05 mg/l). Rooting of shoots was done in hormone free medium that followed by placing the shoots in modified MS medium supplemented with 1 mg/l of IBA in dark condition. The plantlets were acclimated in greenhouse.