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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Fort Pierce, Florida » U.S. Horticultural Research Laboratory » Subtropical Insects and Horticulture Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #271798
Title: In vitro shoot growth of Brugmansia x candida Pers.

Author
item Niedz, Randall
item Evens, Terence
item Hyndman, Scott
item Adkins, Scott
item Chellemi, Daniel

Submitted to: Physiology and Molecular Biology of Plants
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 10/21/2011
Publication Date: 12/30/2011
Citation: Niedz, R.P., Evens, T.J., Hyndman, S., Adkins, S., Chellemi, D.O. 2011. In vitro shoot growth of Brugmansia x candida Pers. Physiology and Molecular Biology of Plants. 18:69-78.

Interpretive Summary: Brugmansia, native from South America, are popular ornamental plants because of their spectacular trumpet-shaped flowers that vary in size, color, and scent. Most research on the tissue culture of Brugmansia relates to the production of important alkaloids for medical applications. One important horticultural application is micropropagation, where numerous plants are produced by plant tissue culture. Because Brugmansia grows poorly on the most commonly used plant tissue culture medium, this study determined the mineral nutrients required to grow and multiply Brugmansia in tissue culture. New plant tissue culture formulations were developed that grow Brugmansia significantly better than the most commonly used MS medium.

Technical Abstract: The objective of this study was to improve the growth of in vitro shoot cultures of Brugmansia × candida 'Creamsickle'. Several mineral nutrient experiments were conducted to determine the effect of NH4+, NO3-, K+, FeSO4/EDTA, ZnSO4, MnSO4, and CuSO4 on quality, leaf width and length, size and weight of shoot mass, and shoot number. The experiment to determine the levels of NH4+, NO3-, and K+, was conducted as a 2-component NH4+: K+ mixture crossed by [NO3-] and resulted in an experimental design free of ion confounding and capable of separating the effects of proportion and concentration. The results of the NH4+-K+-NO3- experiment revealed a region in the design space where growth was significantly improved; the region generally had lower total nitrogen and lower NH4+:K+ ratios than MS medium. The experiments to determine the appropriate levels of Fe, Zn, Mn, and Cu were conducted at six log levels ranging from 0 to 1 mM. Of the four metal salts tested, MnSO4 had the least effect on in vitro shoot growth and its concentration was reduced from 0.1 mM (MS level) to 0.001 mM. CuSO4 had large effects on in vitro shoot growth and was increased from 0.0001 mM to 0.001 mM. A 2-level factorial of NH4+-K+-NO3-, FeSO4/EDTA, and ZnSO4 was conducted and several formulations identified for their improvements of quality and growth. In addition to the changes to MnSO4 and CuSO4, these formulations were characterized by lower levels of NH4+, K+, NO3- and Zn, and higher levels of FeSO4/EDTA. Overall, several nutrient formulations were identified as superior to MS medium for growth of in vitro shoot cultures of B. 'Creamsickle'.