1IN VITRO2micro-propagation of Prunus cerasus “Sour Cherry”

Micro-propagation is the technique of developing plants from very small portion of plants such as shoot tip, root tip, embryo, stem, pollen grain, callus or single cell. The most important contribution to the micro-propagation technique is the development of various tissue culture media. The first complete and fully organised plants were obtained in Populus tremuloides. For many temperate fruit and nut species, orchards are planted with trees propagated by budding or grafting the desired scion cultivar onto a rootstock. The potential uses of tissue culture include the micropropagation of rootstock or scion cultivars in short supply resulting from breeding or virus elimination programmes, genetic improvement through in vitro mutant selection and the regeneration of plants from protoplasts or callus via somatic embryogenesis or androgenesis and finally to provide material for physiological and biochemical studies and insight into the processes examined in such studies. However, reports regarding the mass propagation of cherry are scanty and the literature are sporadic especially that pertaining to sour cherry. The present study thus covers the mass propagation of sour cherry with special reference to other stone fruit crops which are genetically related to sour cherry.