Effect of the application of benzyladenine pulse on organogenesis, acclimatisation and endogenous phytohormone content in kiwi explants cultured under autotrophic conditions

In traditional in vitro culture, explants grow enclosed in a non-ventilated vessel at high relative humidity with phytohormones continuously present and sucrose as the main energy source. Under such conditions explant growth is far from normal. In this paper, explants of Actinidia deliciosa were cultured in MS medium supplemented with sucrose, benzyladenine and gibberellic acid under autotrophic conditions in glass boxes flushed with air enriched with 600 microl l(-1) CO(2) for the first 20 days and then transferred to MS medium until the end of the culture period. The effect of benzyladenine was assayed in two regimes of application: in cultures for 20 days in the medium or only 24 h in the presence of benzyladenine with the aim of improving shoot proliferation and acclimatisation. The longest explants were those grown under ventilation and pulsed for 24 h with benzyladenine. These explants also rooted spontaneously, whereas those grown with continuous benzyladenine under ventilation or without ventilation grew and rooted poorly. The highest amount of endogenous isoprenoid cytokinins were found in the longest explants grown under ventilation and pulsed for 24 h with benzyladenine; under these conditions zeatin riboside represented two thirds of the entire cytokinin pool. These explants presented the highest amount of indole-3-acetic acid, while abscisic acid content was high in explants cultured under non-ventilated conditions. No differences were observed between explants cultured under ventilation regardless of their exposure to benzyladenine. The longest explants, which also performed best in acclimatisation, also presented a high indole-3-acetic to abscisic acid ratio.

Ethylene biosynthesis and endogenous polyamines in relation to development of in vitro cultured kiwifruit explants

The relationship between polyamines and ethylene is controversial because the degree of interference of one pathway with the other may differ according to species, stage of development and experimental procedure. In this paper, we modify ethylene biosynthesis by the addition of aminoethoxyvinylglicine (AVG) or 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid (ACC) and study how it affects polyamine content and development of kiwifruit explants (Actinidia deliciosa CS Liang. & AR Fergusson). Cultured under ventilation where ethylene did not accumulate in the culture vessels, kiwi explants had higher ACC synthase activity and lower polyamine content than those grown without ventilation. In explants cultured in the reference medium, putrescine was the more abundant polyamine and spermine was only detected in the free fraction irrespective of ventilation. Under ventilation, addition of ACC to the culture medium inhibited organogenesis, there was less spermidine and spermine was not detected. Addition of AVG to the culture medium increased both the number of shoots and the amount of polyamines, and inhibited ACC synthase, so S-adenosylmethionine (SAM) led to increasing synthesis of spermidine and spermine. The increase in putrescine is more difficult to explain on the basis of inhibition of ethylene biosynthesis. The increase in the number of shoots in kiwi explants due to AVG addition may be attributed to the lack of ethylene in the atmosphere of the vessels or the increase in free polyamines.

Influence of CO2 and sucrose on photosynthesis and transpiration of Actinidia deliciosa explants cultured in vitro

Explants of Actinidia deliciosa Chev. Liang and Ferguson var. Hayward were cultured in controlled CO2 atmospheres in the presence of different sucrose concentrations. Organogenesis was measured after 45 days in explants from the different assays, and quantification of photosynthesis, transpiration, chlorophylls, RUBISCO and total soluble protein content was performed in leaves from the different treatments. The best results were those of explants cultured at 600 &mgr;mol CO2 mol-1 on 20 g l-1 of sucrose for the first 20 days and then transferred to sucrose-free medium until the end of the culture period. Increasing CO2 to 2000 &mgr;mol CO2 mol-1 in the atmosphere of the culture vessel reduced all the parameters studied. Photosynthesis of autotrophically developed explants trebled that of the reference heterotrophic explants, as there was an apparent inverse relationship between photosynthesis and transpiration. Photosynthesis was saturated at 300 &mgr;mol m-2 s-1 PPFD and 600 &mgr;mol CO2 mol-1. Chlorophylls and RUBISCO presented differences between treatments, mainly between different CO2 concentrations, with the highest values in autotrophically cultured explants. Explants grown at 2000 &mgr;mol CO2 mol-1 showed the lowest RUBISCO/Prots ratio, probably due to negative adaptation of RUBISCO to long-term high CO2. In short, explants grown in a controlled microenvironment, with increased CO2 and under autotrophic conditions, developed wholly functional photosynthetic apparatus well prepared to be transferred to ex vitro conditions, which has many advantages in micropropagation.