Micropropagation of Strawberry Crop (Fragaria ananassa): A review

The objective of this review paper is to summarize on the history, advantages, disadvantages of in vitro micropropagation of strawberry crop. Since the traditional method of propagation, that is, the use of runners as propagating material, is not that efficient because it leads to the spread of viral diseases. We have to go for in vitro micropropagation, the crops also yield more when compared to traditional methods of propagation. The paper also reviews a study done to develop a protocol for large-scale propagation of strawberry cv. ‘Sweet Charlie’ and ‘Winter Dawn’ using the micropropagation technique. Shoot cultures were obtained from shoot tips on Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium with 4% table sugar, 0.75% agar, 5 mg L^-1 6-benzyladenine and 0.01 mg L^-1 kinetin. These shoots were multiplied and maintained on MS medium with 1 mg L^-1 6-benzyladenine and 0.1 mg L^-1 kinetin. Rooting of in vitro raised shoots was successfully conducted by pulse treatment with 500 mg L^-1 indole-3-butyric acid for 30 s and subsequent culturing in MS medium with 1 mg L^-1 indole-3-butyric acid, 0.1 g L^-1 activated charcoal and 6% table sugar. Plants were successfully acclimatized and survived in field conditions.