An efficient protocol for in vitro propagation of strawberry cv. Chandler through shoot tip culture

Strawberry is one of the most widely consumed fruits throughout the world. Strawberry is usually vegetatively propagated by runners, through which the existing demand for planting material cannot be met. In the present study, an attempt was made to develop an efficient micropropagation protocol for large scale production of strawberry plantlets of cultivar Chandler. Sterilized shoot tips were cultured in Murashige and Skoog media containing 0, 1, 2, 3 and 4 ppm of 6-Benzylaminopurine (BAP) alone and 0, 1, 2, 3 and 4 ppm of BAP in combination with 0.5 ppm kinetin for shoot proliferation. The shootlets were rooted in half strength and one-fourth strength MS media supplemented with 0, 0.5, 1.0, 1.5 and 2.0 ppm of IBA. The results showed that MS medium with BAP @ 2 ppm + kinetin @ 0.5 ppm was most effective with highest shoot proliferation percentage and produced considerable amount of longer shoots with maximum shoot fresh weight and dry weight. Half-strength MS medium with 0.5 ppm of IBA was most suitable for rooting. It gave highest rooting percentage with optimum amount of healthy roots with maximum root fresh weight and dry weight.