Adventitious Shoot Organogenesis and Plant Regeneration from Cotyledons of Diploid Diyarbakır Watermelon (Citrullus lanatus cv. "Sürme")

Authors: VEDAT PİRİNÇ, AHMET ONAY, FİLİZ ADIYAMAN, ÇİĞDEM IŞIKALAN, ENGİN TİLKAT, DAVUT BAŞARAN

Abstract: Adventitious shoots were obtained from the diploid Diyarbakır watermelon cultivar "Sürme" by culturing cotyledons on shoot regeneration medium for 3 weeks. The effects of two cytokinins, benzyl amino purine (BA) and kinetine (Kin), on shoot organogenesis were examined. The number of shoots per explant were approximately more than 50% higher when 0.5 mg/l BA was used compared to the most effective kinetin concentration (1 mg/l). Plants were obtained by transferring 1 to 2 cm shoots to MS medium supplemented with 1-4 mg/l naphthalene acetic acid. Most of the regenerated plants (more than 50%) were successfully transplanted to the field. This demonstrates that in vitro propagation can be used to produce high quality diploid Diyarbakır watermelon for use in breeding lines.

Keywords: Regeneration, Tissue culture, Watermelon

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