1. Removal of viruses from Lebanese fig varieties using tissue culture and thermotherapy
- Author
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Lamis CHALAK, Toufic ELBEAINO, Ahmad ELBITAR, Tala FATTAL, and Elia CHOUEIRI
- Subjects
Ficus carica ,shoot tip culture ,thermotherapy ,Botany ,QK1-989 - Abstract
Two Lebanese fig accessions of local varieties (Biadi and Aswad), infected by Fig leaf mottle-associated virus 1 (FLMaV-1), Fig leaf mottle-associated virus 2 (FLMaV-2) and Fig mosaic virus (FMV), were subjected to tissue culture and thermotherapy for producing virus-free plant material. The virus status of all progeny explants was assayed by RT-PCR using viruses-specific primers. The shoot tip culture technique was reliable for elimination of from 60 to 100% of fig viruses. However, stem cutting culture coupled with thermotherapy was the most effective for shoot regeneration (40% of reactive explants), while elimination of the three viruses was possible even though with lower rates of removal (from zero to 81%) were achieved. This study has indicated that FLMaV-2 is more susceptible to thermotherapy than FLMaV-1 and FMV.
- Published
- 2015
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