1Division of Genetics and Plant Breeding, Central Potato Research Institute, Shimla-171 001, (HP).
2Biotechnology Centre, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana-141 004, (Punjab).
In vitro performance of 22 potato genotypes (20 of Solanum tuberosum ssp. tuberosum and 2 of S. tuberosum ssp. andigena) was studied under eight culture conditions for six characters i.e. plantlet height, number of nodes, internode length, microtuber yield, number of microtubers and average microtuber weight. All factors i.e. culture conditions, genotypes and genotype × culture conditions interaction were important for in vitro performance of various characters. The component of variation (σ2) due to genotype × culture conditions interaction was, in general, very high for all characters. Andigena genotypes had performance within the range of performance of Tuberosum genotypes. The optimum culture conditions differed for fast growth and wide genotypic response, and for foliage growth and microtuber production. The results suggested the need of developing genotype specific protocols to maximize in vitro performance for various characters. The effect of various culture factors on in vitro propagation are discussed.
