ABSTRACT
Importance of abscisic acid (ABA) in the in vitro conservation of cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz)

L. Pedro Barrueto Cid1* and Luiz L.C.B. Carvalho1
 

The conventional technology for in vitro plant conservation for cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) germplasm collections is laborious due to the need for several sub-culturing procedures per year. This practice implies high costs for medium preparation, tissue culture tubes, time-consuming labor, risks of contamination, mislabeling of accession, and the need for large growth chambers. We have developed a new procedure using in vitro cultivated nodal axillary buds treated with different abscisic acid (ABA) concentrations to reduce the time for recycling transplants cultivated in a SP basic nutritive medium. Nodal explants were stored for three months with ABA. Plants were obtained after nodal axillary buds were placed in SP medium without ABA. Results indicated that 20 and 30 µM ABA induced bud dormancy and delayed sprouting without affecting subsequent growth of plants after treatment.

Keywords: tissue culture, dormancy, Manihot esculenta.
1 EMBRAPA, Recursos Genéticos e Biotecnologia, CENARGEN, Caixa Postal 02372, CEP 70770-900, Brasília DF, Brasil. E-mail: lpbcid@gmail.com *Corresponding author.