Protocols for Micropropagation of Woody Trees and Fruits

PROPAGATION OF MONGOLIAN CHERRY AND NANKING CHERRY
6 months. In general, low light during storage improves quality of cultures. The
chokecherry and Saskatoon cultures grew during storage, and the longer the stock
plants were stored, the more vigorous cultures they re-grew. This indicates that a
prolonged exposure to the low temperature reduces dormancy (Pruski et al., 2000).
Cultures of Mongolian and Nanking cherry followed the pattern showing a strong
capacity to re-grow after 6 months of storage. It took only 3 weeks to fully re-grow
black Nanking cherry cultures (Figure 4).
3. CONCLUSION
Tissue culture techniques have been applied successfully to various types of cherries
with different aims: breeding, propagation, and obtaining virus/disease-free plants.
Although the Mongolian (P. fruticosa L.) and the Nanking (P. tomentosa L.)
cherries are of lesser importance among the cherry crops, their adaptation to severe
winter conditions of Canadian Prairie Provinces has made them important for fruit
growers in these regions. Selections of both species became of economical importance
to small fruit produces on the prairies increasing a variety of fruit crops that can
commercially be grown in cold regions of the country. The demand for their fruit is
growing steadily, so is the demand for true-to-type plant material. The tissue culture
propagation offers a possibility to produce the plant material in a relatively short
time and in required numbers. Also, the in vitro methods could be useful in new
breeding programmes. Improvement programmes will likely focus on high produc-
tivity and fruit quality, resistance to diseases, and dwarf rootstocks. This micropropagation
protocol is a powerful tool for a mass production of Mongolian and
Nanking cherry plants that are coming from selection programmes aimed at fruit
quality. It offers a possibility for a mass production of true-to-type plants that
maintain fruit quality.
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