Effect of silicon on somatic embryogenesis and shoot regeneration of dry date palm (phoenix dactylifera l.)‎ cv bartamuda

Abstract EN

Silicon (Si) has not been observed as an essential element for plant growth, however, the beneficial effect of Si has been recognized in many plant species.

The use of Si is one of the important recent trends for improving embryogenesis, growth traits and morphological characters in the field of tissue culture, for using on a commercial scale.

Therefore, in this study the effect of potassium silicate (K2SiO3) and sodium silicate (Na2SiO3) at different concentrations (0.0, 0.5, 1.0, 2.0, 4.0 and 8.0 mg/l) were examined on somatic embryogenesis and regeneration percentage of dry date palm cv Bartamuda In the light of the obtained results, treatment with Si had a positive effect.

The highest percentage of somatic embryogenesis formation and callus degree was obtained on Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with 4.0 mg /l K2SiO3 from embryogenic callus derived from shoot tip explants.

Moreover, this medium gave the highest number of embryos/culture and the lowest degree of browning and hyperhydricity.

However, the highest mean length of embryo was obtained on MS medium supplemented with 2.0 mg/l K2SiO3 compared with other treatments.

Fresh and dry weight of embryo increased linearly with increasing concentration of Si treatments of both K2SiO3 and Na2SiO3.

The highest germination percentage was obtained with embryos that matured on MS medium supplemented with 8.0 mg/l K2SiO3 or Na2SiO3.

To our knowledge, this is the first study on the in vitro application of Si on dry date palm.