Somatic embryogenesis and bulblet production in <I>Narcissus papyraceus</I> cv. Shirazi: effect of plant growth regulators, light intensity, sucrose concentration, methyl jasmonate and anti-gibberellins

Abstract

Generally, narcissus is propagated through vegetative methods, but due to their low yield their are not economical. This study was conducted to develop a suitable method for the production of somatic embryos and bulblets in Narcissus papyraceus cv. Shirazi. Bulb scales were placed on the MS medium supplemented with 2,4-D and BAP each at 0.0, 0.25, 0.5 or 1 mg/l concentrations to form somatic embryos (SEs). For proliferation, the bulblets were cut in small segments and placed on either MS medium supplemented with sucrose at 30, 60 or 90 g/l, kept in dark or light intensities of 54 or 108 μmol m-2 s-1 or the MS medium including Methyl jasmonate (Me JA), growth retardants Paclobutrazol or Cycocel (PBZ or CCC) each at 0.0, 0.5, 1.0 or 2.0 mg/l. The highest SE percentage (75 ± 9.0) was obtained when 1.0 mg/l 2,4-D and 0.5 mg/l BAP were incorporated into the medium. Using sucrose at 60 g/l under a light intensity of 54 μmol m-2 s-1 or utilizing 1.0 mg/l PBZ produced the greatest bulblet number (4.45 ± 0.51 and 5.0 ± 0.25, respectively). None of the scales produced bulblets in dark at any sucrose concentration.