Photoautotrophic and Heterotrophic Micropropagation of Sugarcane Shoots in Controlled Environments

Abstract

We achieved successful growth and multiplication of sugarcane shoots in vitro under photoautotrophic conditions aseptically for three generations in our laboratory and proposed an experimental procedure for photoautotrophic micropropagation of sugarcane in controlled environment. The growth rate of photoautotrophic cultures in sugarless MS medium was found to be half of the growth rate of heterotrophic cultures in multiplication medium after a two-week period in the same environment. Contamination with algae in some vessels was recognized as a problem for septic photoautotrophic growth. Atrazine was found to be effective in controlling algae at a concentration of 10 ppm. But, atrazine in total was not considered to be a practical solution for the algae problem as it had a negative affect on the growth of shoots.