Optical differences of ex vitro and in vitro plantlets of Boston fern, Nephrolepis exaltata Schott cv. Bostoniensis

In vitro formed plantlets perceive environmental stresses in transferring to in vivo condition due to their special morphological characteristics. Precise determination of differences between in vitro and acclimated plants can lead to successful acclimation of plantlets. Recently, optical studies are exploited as nondestructive and fast methods in exact determination of these differences. The current study was conducted to determine anatomical and morphological differences between ex vitro and in vivo plants by optical method. In this study, in vitro and acclimated plantlets of Boston fern, Nephrolepis exaltata Schott cv. Bostoniensis, which were cultured and rooted on / MS basal medium supplemented with 0 g.l- sucrose and 0.5 mg.l- benzyl adenine (BA) were used. Tri-dimensional pictures revealed that the surface of acclimated plant’s leaves were about 6-0 times smoother than in vitro ones. The comparison of reflective spectrum of in vitro and acclimated plantlets showed the most differences in the amplitude of the green wavelength (55-555 nm) and the red wavelength (670-685 nm).