Micropropagation of pricly-pear cv. Miúda (<i>Nopalea cochenillifera</i> - Salm Dyck)

Abstract

The objective of this study was to establish micropropagation protocols for cv. Miúda (Nopalea cochenillifera - Salm Dyck), considering that this variety presents resistance to the plague carmine cochineal. In this experiment, young prickly-pear cladodes (measuring between 5 to 8 cm) were sterilized in 70% alcohol and in solution of sodium hypochlorite (2%). Explants measuring 5 mm³ were cutivated in complete Murashige and Sckoog.(MS) culture medium, in a treatment with three levels of AIA (0; 0.1; 0.25 mg L^-1). Six weeks later, the shoots were changed to a basic culture medium supplemented with 3 or 5% of sucrose, with 1.0 mg L^-1 BAP and 0.5 mg L^-1 AIA. Half of them were longitudinally sectioned before the transference, while the other remained intact. Eight weeks later, the shoots were put in a MS medium without growth regulators and posteriorly acclimatized. In “phase one” no differences among the three levels of AIA were observed. Significant difference was verified in the longitudinal cut and in the sucrose level. The cut increased multiplication by 70%, while the best sucrose level (3%) showed a 50% increase in multiplication compared to shoots without cut.