In Vitro Selection of Drought-Tolerance Sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum L.) Callus and Regeneration of Plantlets from the Selected Callus lines using Polyethylene Glycol

Abstract

In the production of sugarcane to obtain high quantity and quality may be used high quality sugarcane cutting in terms of germination, vigor and disease free, as well as adaptation to tolerate drought stress. The objective of this experiment was to study the induction of shoots and roots of sugar cane callus when cultured on a synthetic medium with different plant growth regulators and to assess drought tolerance in the cultivation of sugar cane callus. The experiment launched by using shoot tip of the sugar cane approximately 0.5-1 mm in size, of two cultivars sugarcane i.e. Khon Kaen 3 cultivars and Suphanburi 50 cultivars that they were cultured on MS media containing 3 mg/l 2, 4-D and 0.5 mg/l kinetin for callus induction at 25°C and light intensity 2000 lux, 16 hours of light per day. For 4 weeks, it was found that callus can be induced in both cultivars which obtained a white color and friable callus. Then, callus was cultured on MS media containing 3 mg/l 2,4-D 3 mg/l and 0.5 mg/l kinetin together with PEG 6000 at the concentration 0, 5, 10, 15 and 20 % for 4 weeks. From the result, it showed that callus of both sugarcane cultivars that they cultured on MS medium containing 3 mg/l 2, 4-D and 0.5 mg/l kinetin without PEG, obtained the highest fresh weight and callus diameter. On the other hand, the fresh weight and callus diameter decreased when receiving PEG 6000 at higher concentrations. The analysis of the amount of proline and activity of the CAT APX SOD enzyme showed that all concentrations of PEG resulted in the accumulation of proline and the activity of the CAT APX and SOD enzymes. Khon Kaen 3 cultivars had the proline content and activity of the enzyme CAT APX and SOD more than Suphanburi 50 cultivars. From the results, this technique can be applied to select sugarcane cultivars that was resistant to drought stress.