A successful micropropagation protocol for three aronia (Aronia melanocarpa) cultivars

Abstract

Aronia (Aronia melanocarpa Elliot, black chokeberry) is an important fruit plant for medical and culinary uses. Its berries are highly nutritive and rich in vitamins and antioxidants. It is a clonally propagated fruit species but there are very few reports of in vitro-based clonal propagation protocols that can be utilized in multiplication of different Aronia cultivars. We developed a highly efficient micropropagation protocol for three Aronia cultivars ('Eastland', 'Viking', and 'Nero'). In vitro cultures were initiated using actively growing shoots where they were collected from the mature field-grown plants. The shoots were washed thoroughly under tap water, cut into ~10 cm pieces before sterilization procedure. The shoots were dipped in 70% ethanol for 30 s and sterilized in a sterilization solution for 30 min. Then, the shoots were rinsed three times with sterile double distilled water in a laminar flow hood. In order to initiate in vitro cultures, nodal explants that were obtained from surface sterilized shoots were placed in Magenta boxes containing M1 (MSO) and M2 (MS supplemented with 0.7 mg L-16-benzylaminopurine (BAP)) media. After about 10 weeks, shoots developed from these initiation cultures were cut into nodal explants and subcultured in MS2 for further multiplication. For rooting, nodal explants were prepared from in vitro-grown shoots and cultured in R1 (WPM supplemented with 1 mg L-1indole-3-butyric acid (IBA)) and R2 (1/2 WPM supplemented with 3 mg L-1IBA) media. Majority of the explants produced shoots and roots in rooting media within three months. All three cultivars were successfully propagated with slight differences. Rooted plants were successfully acclimated and transferred to a greenhouse for further growth. One year-old plants grew up to 55 cm in height and developed multiple shoots. The protocol developed in this study can be used for in vitro clonal propagation of commercially important Aronia cultivars. © 2020 International Society for Horticultural Science. All rights reserved.