Effect of physical and chemical factors on efficient in vitro production of microtuber using three potato genotypes in Bangladesh

Potato microtuberization through in vitro culture is a complex development process that is influenced by several chemical and physical factors. For mass production of potato microtubers these factors need to be optimized along with an efficient protocol involving suitable chemicals dosages. Three commercial potato cultivars viz. Diamant, Cardinal and Asterix with various doses of sucrose (4, 6, 8, 10 and 12%), plant growth regulators viz. cytokinins (BAP or kinetin-0.5, 0.75, 1.0, 1.5 and 7.0 mg/l), incubation period (4, 6, 8, 10 and 12 weeks) and photoperiodic regimes (0/24, 8/16 and 16/8 light/dark cycles) were applied for enhancing potato microtuberization in conventional semi-solid culture system. It was observed that 8% sucrose + 1 mg/l BAP showed the best performance for all cultivars. For photoperiodic regimes (0/24 h) 10 week incubation period and for microtuber production Diamant was identified as the best cultivar.