Carnation Plantlets from Vitrified Plants as a Source of Somaclonal Variation

Abstract

Abstract Organ cultures of carnations have been used as a source of virus-free plants (14) and for rapid vegetative propagation through adventitious shoot formation (1, 4, 12). The use of apical meristems has assumed that the new carnation plants remain true to type (10). Some cultured shoot tips develop abnormally as translucent plantlets with short stems and thick, fragile leaves. This phenomenon has been observed in various species and is referred to as “vitrification” (3, 7). These stunted, bushy succulent plants are commonly found in carnation cultures (5, 6, 8, 9, 15, 18) and have been suggested for the propagation and maintenance of pathogenfree carnation tissue under aseptic conditions (5).