Effect of plant growth regulators on in vitro shoot multiplication of Amygdalus communis L. cv. Yaltsinki

An efficient protocol was established for in vitro shoot multiplication from apical shoot tips derived from mature trees of almond (Amygdalus communis L.) cultivars, Yaltsinki. Explants were cultured on Murashige and Skoog (1962) (MS) medium containing various concentrations of 6-benzyladenin (BA) and kinetin (kin) for shoot multiplication. Shoot multiplication was best achieved from explant on MS medium containing 30 gl(-1) sucrose, 7 gl(-1) agar and 1.0 mgl(-1) BA. This amount of BA (1.0 mgl(-1)) gave the best multiple shoot formation response with an average of 16.10 shoots per explant. In addition, shoots were cultured on the media containing 1.0 mgl(-1) BA and kin combined with three different auxins (0.25 and 0.5 mgl(-1) of IAA, IBA and NAA) separately. It was noted that 1.0 mgl(-1) BA and kin combinated with NAA had inhibitory effect on new shoot formation and no shoot formation was induced. However, explants cultivated on medium containing 1.0 mgl(-1) BA and 0.5 mgl(-1) IAA resulted in 11.25 shoots per explant. The effect of four different sucrose concentrations (20, 30, 40, 50 gl(-1)) on the multiplication of shoots was also investigated. The best shoot multiplication was obtained in MS media containing 30 gl(-1) sucrose with an average of 15.40 shoots per explant.