Bal Kumari Oliya^1,2*, Shova Sharma¹ , Bijula Neupane¹ , Sudha Acharya¹ ,
Rajendra Koirala³ , Surya Prasad Baral¹ and Mukunda Ranjit^4
1Warm Temperate Horticulture Centre, Kirtipir, Kathmandu, Nepal
²Seed Quality Control Centre, Hariharbhawan, Lalitpur, Nepal
³National Centre for Fruit Development, Kirtipur, Kathmandu, Nepal
⁴Nepal Academy of Science and Technology, Kathmandu, Nepal
*Corresponding author's email: balkumarioliya1@gmail.com

Abstract

The shoot-tip and mature seed of Kiwifruit (Actinidia deliciosa cv Hayward) obtained from field grown mother plant were inoculated in various concentrations of benzyl amino purine (BAP), α-naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA), in the full strength of Murashige and Skoog (FMS) media for micropropagation. FMS supplemented with 1 mg/L BAP responded best for seed germination whereas, FMS supplemented by 1.5mg/LBAP and 0.5 mg/L NAA responded better for shoot-tip regeneration. Further, FMS supplemented by 1.5 mg/L BAP and 0.2 mg/L NAA media combination showed the best response for in vitro shoot proliferation from both shoot tip and callus culture proliferating an average of 6.7 and 13 shoots, with 2.7 and 3.3 cm of shoot length, respectively. The in vitro regenerated shoots showed the best in vitro rooting in FMS supplemented with 1 mg/L of IAA. During acclimatization, 85% of plants were successfully hardened in the acclimatization medium with 3:1:1:1/2 ratio of cocopeat: sand: soil and pearlite. Random amplified polymorphic DNA marker (RAPD), inter simple sequence repeat (ISSR) primers and simple Sequence repeat (SSR) markers evaluated the genetic stability of in vitro regenerated plants. The result obtained suggest that, the regeneration protocol can be used for in vitro propagation of Actinidia deliciosa cv Hayward for the commercial production of true-to-type plants and will help genetic transformation studies in future. The method developed in this study can substantially assist propagation in vitro and benefit economically valued fruit crop Actinidia deliciosa cv Hayward breeding programs.