In vitro propagation of Calla lily: adenine sulphate and 6-benzilaminopurine

Calla lily [ Zantedeschia aethiopica (L.) Spreng.] belonging to the Araceae family is appreciated as cut flower and in com­position of gardens. However, the conventional propagation of this plants shows a poor productive. Thus, tissue culture besides allowing fast clonal propagation also provides healthy and uniforms plants. The aim was study the influence of the differents concentrations of 6-benzilaminopurine (BAP) and adenine sulphate (AS) on in vitro multiplication of Calla lily. The explants were maintained in MS medium added with BAP (0.0, 8.9, 17.8 and 26.7 μM) and adenine sulphate (0, 54, 108 and 162 μM). The plants were transferred to growth room and maintained at 25±1oC and photoperiod of 16 hours for 60 days, under luminous intensity of 35 μmol m-2 s-1, for a period of 60 days. The experimental design was entirely randomized with four repetitions of three seedlings each, resulting in twelve plants per treatment, each tube with one plant. The statistics analysis showed interactive effects for quantify of BAP and AS for leaves number and fresh mass of the aerial parts. The highest number of leaves (4.8) and fresh mass of aerial parts (0.73 g) was obtained with 26.7 μM of BAP combined with 108 μM of AS, highest number of shoots (2.6) was obtained with 22,19 μM of BAP and highest lengh of sprouts (5.0 cm) was observed in the absence of BAP. The addition of BAP increased the number of shoots per explant. The use of adenine sulphate in combination with BAP had a positive effect for the accumulation of fresh weight and number of leaves in vitro culture.