Effects of Different Concentrations of Mineral Salt, Sucrose and Benzyladenine on Boston Fern (Neprolepis exaltata Schott cv. Bostoniensis) Runner Tips Initiation

Boston fern (Nephrolepis exaltata Schott cv. Bostoniensis) is an ornamental foliage plant considered today as one of the most marketable indoor pot plants. Due to the restriction of conventional propagation methods, mass propagation of this plant has increased through in vitro culture techniques. In the present study an attempt has been made to achieve the best medium for runner tip culture of Nephrolepis. At first, runner tips were disinfected by using 15% commercial bleach (5.25 % sodium hypochlorite) for 15 minutes. After that, explants were inoculated on 12 different initiation media using two concentrations of Murashige and Skoog (MS) mineral salts (1/2 MS and 1/4 MS), two concentrations of sucrose (20 or 30 g/l) and three concentrations of benzyladenine (BA), (2, 1 and 0.5 mg/l). The experiments were conducted in factorial arrangements in a completely randomized design with 4 replications. The number and height of shoots were measured after 6 weeks. During the experiment period, quality characters and time of leaf perimordia emergence and green globular body (GGB) formation were measured. The highest number of shoots with low height was achieved in media consisting half concentrations of MS mineral salts, 30 or 20 g/l sucrose and 1 or 2 mg/l BA. GGB formation also occured on media consisting 1 and 2 mg/l BA at all treatments. Microscopic investigations of GGB showed that they contain adventitious buds. Medium, containing ½ MS, 20 g/l sucrose and 1 mg/l BA was found to be the best.