Micropropagation of Gerbera (Gerbera jamesonii Bolus)

Gerbera (Gerbera jamesonii Bolus) is one of the most popular ornamental flowers worldwide and used both as cut flower and potted plant. Some of them show excellent agronomic characters such as color, floral diameter, stem length, and vigor, which make this plant of commercial importance. Conventionally, multiplication is done through seeds or rhizome cuttings. Rapid multiplication of elite cultivars of Gerbera, with improved agronomic traits, has been achieved by using both direct and indirect tissue culture methods. Direct shoot regeneration was accomplished from stem apices on MS medium supplemented with 1 mg/L 6-benzyladenine (BA) and 1 mg/L kinetin. Indirect shoot induction succeeded from callus differentiation has been achieved on MS medium containing 2 mg/L 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid, 0.5 mg/L indole-3-acetic acid, and 2 mg/L BA. The in vitro shoots, 4-5 cm long, were rooted by quick dipping the shoot bases for 3-5 s in 2,000 mg/L indole-3-butyric acid solution followed by transfer to the pots containing farmyard manure, soil, and sand (1:1:1 by volume). Initially, in vitro plantlets were covered with glass jars to maintain a high relative humidity (85-90%). As soon as new shoot growth begins, relative humidity is decreased by exposing them to the open environmental conditions prior transferring to the glasshouse. Indirect shoot regeneration increased the frequency of somaclonal variations. The selected somaclones were used in developing new and novel cultivars.