Benzyladenine concentration, type and dose of carbohydrates in the culture medium for shoot proliferation of Agave americana

Abstract

To evaluate the in vitro shoot proliferation of Agave americana var. oaxacensis, calli fragments with two or three adventitious shoots were put in different culture media with pH 5.8 and consistency of gel, containing the MS mineral salts, 100 mg L-1 myo-inositol; benzyladenine (BA) in different concentration (0, 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 mg L-1), type of carbohydrate (sucrose or fructose syrup) and carbohydrate concentration (20, 30, 40 g L-1). Cultures were incubated for 60 days under white fluorescent light in 16 h light/8 h darkness, temperature 20-28°C. The experiment was established according to a completely randomized design with a factorial arrangement 6x2x3. The sucrose was better carbohydrate than fructose syrup. The explants in media without BA and 20 g L-1 sucrose formed four shoots with 10.8 cm tall, and formed adventitious roots. When the BA and sucrose concentration were increased the explants formed more adventitious shoots, but in the media with 6 mg L-1 BA and 40 g L-1 sucrose the esplants formed up to 21adventitious shoots which had 6.5 cm size. The cytokinin prevented the root formation.