Protocols for Micropropagation of Woody Trees and Fruits

CHAPTER 36
TISSUE CULTURE PROPAGATION OF MONGOLIAN
CHERRY (PRUNUS FRUTICOSA L.) AND NANKING
CHERRY (PRUNUS TOMENTOSA L.)
K. PRUSKI
Department of Plant and Animal Sciences, Nova Scotia Agricultural College
(NSAC), Truro, Nova Scotia, B2N 5E3 Canada. E-mail: kpruski@nsac.ca
1. INTRODUCTION
Mongolian cherry (Prunus fruticosa L.) and Nanking cherry (P. tomentosa L.), the
fruit-bearing shrubs, are well adapted to severe winter conditions of Canadian
Prairie Provinces. Although native to China, both species are well known in North
America and are transcontinental in distribution (Knowles, 1975). Beside their
ornamental value, there are selections that have relatively large, good quality fruits
suitable for processing. Both P. fruitcosa and P. tomentosa are not self-fruitful, two
or more genotypes are needed for cross-pollination and good fruit set. Fruits in both
species are cherry-like, round, fleshy and red in color (Figure 1). There are additional
two phenotypes of Nanking cherry that bear pinkish-white and very dark-red,
almost black fruit. The fruit growers in Western Canada are currently considering
these two species as new fruit crops that could be commercially grown in the severe
climate of the prairies. This new commercial interest in Mongolian and Nanking
cherry cultivation, based solely on the selection of superior clones from wild shrubs,
indicates possibilities in the genetic improvement and utilization of these species. To
make large scale cultivation and an effective breeding viable, an efficient multiplication
method of the superior clones will have to be established. Micropropagation
has become a reliable and often routine method for a mass production of newly
developed plant cultivars.
Micropropagation has been successfully used for production of other fruitbearing,
native prairie shrubs such as Amelanchier alnifolia Nutt., the Saskatoon
berry (Pruski et al., 1990, 1991), Prunus pensylvanica L., the pincherry (Pruski et al.,
2000), and P. virginiana, the chokecherry (Pruski et al., 2000; Zhang et al., 2000).
Recently, successful micropropagation methods for P. fruticosa L. and P. tomentosa
391
S.M. Jain and H. Häggman (eds.), Protocols for Micropropagation of Woody Trees and Fruits, 391–407.
© 2007 Springer.