Production of Virus-free Chinese Artichoke through Shoot Tip Culture

Abstract

Most Chinese artichoke plants cultivated in Akita, Fukui and Yamagata Prefectures, Japan, were found to be infected with viruses. In this study, we produced virus-free plants through shoot tip culture of axillary buds. Shoot tips formed multiple shoots on MS medium containing 0.5 mg·liter^-1 BA, or formed callus that subsequently developed adventitious shoots on MS medium with 0.5 mg·liter^-1 BA. When these shoots were excised and transferred to hormone-free MS medium, they developed roots. Inoculation tests, RT-PCR assays and visual observations of rooted plantlets that readily acclimatized in a greenhouse, indicated that three were virus-free.