In vitro propagation of some old Persian cypress accessions (Cupressus sempervirens L.) by embryo culture.

In order to study in vitro propagation of some old Persian cypress genotypes (Cupressus sempervirens L.), embryos of twenty old cypress accessions were cultured on MS and SH media containing 100 and 200 mg L-1 myo-inositol. Germination percentage and growth parameters of produced plantlets and their hardening off were evaluated. Results showed that the highest germination percentage and germination rate was obtained with MS medium containing 100 mg L-1 myo-inositol, although no significant difference was observed with MS containing 200 mg L-1 myo-inositol and SH containing 100 mg L-1 myo-inositol. Furthermore, based on the results, the highest root length was gained with SH medium containing 200 mg L-1 myo-inositol. Germination percentage of isolated embryos and shoot length of produced plantlets were affected by genotype, so that the highest germination percentage and shoot length was obtained with KB and KT genotypes, respectively. The oldest genotype which was 4000 years old (Abarkuh cypress) showed no significant difference with other genotypes in terms of shoot and root length. In hardening-off step, first all genotypes were initially established but after 2 weeks, KJ2, KK, KSHN, KD1, KB genotypes died.