Investigation of in vitro micropropagation properties of Prunus Arabica (Olivier) meikle

Prunus arabica (Olivier) Meikle grows in the form of a wild almond species in Iran, Iraq, Palestine, Jordan, Israel and Turkey's Southeastern Anatolia region; Gaziantep, Adiyaman, Mardin, Sirnak and Siirt. Especially in the southeast of Jordan, it is used as rootstock to increase the yield and quality of hard-core fruit species in arid climatic conditions. The objective of the current study was to develop a micropropagation protocol for Prunus arabica (Olivier) Meikle, which has a high potential rootstock ability for stone fruits. Dormant cuttings from mature plants before the leaves were opened in spring shoots were used as the explant source. To determine optimum micropropagation rate and the culture medium suitable for stabilization and sustainability of cultures, the expants were cultured on NRM, MS,WPM and DKW medium containing 0.01mgL-1IBA and 1 mgL-1BA. To determine the best rooting the expants were cultured on NRM containing 0.25,0.5,0.75, 1.0 mg/L-1 IBA. In this study, the average number of shoots per shoot were obtained on NRM (11.5), WPM (9.6), DKW (3.29) and MS (1.5) respectively. The average shoot length were obtained on NRM medium.( 4cm), DKW (3.2cm), WPM (2.1cm) and MS (1.3cm) respectively. In terms of rooting, it was observed that activated charcoal did not have much effect on rooting and the best rooting rate was recorded in 18% to 0.5 mg / L IBA containing activated charcoal medium. The rooting rate of microshoots propagated from mature plants was insufficient (less than 18%) for practical use. Key words: Prunus arabica, in vitro, Rooting, IBA, NRM