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Abstract

Most Croatian indigenous grapevine cultivars and vineyards are infected with a few dominant viruses. The goal of this study was to establish somatic embryogenesis as an efficient method for virus elimination from valuable Croatian cultivars and creating a reliable source of healthy plants. Somatic embryogenesis was induced from immature anthers and somatic embryogenesis-derived plantlets for seven indigenous cultivars were successfully regenerated. This procedure led to the elimination of viruses GFLV, GLRaV-1, GLRaV-3 and GFkV that were initially detected in the field-grown cultivars ‘Plavac mali’ and ‘Babica’ with an elimination success of at least 30%. The described method has the potential for production of virus-free rooted plantlets for all economically important cultivars or superior cultivar clones and for the establishment of a steady source of certified virus-free planting material.

Keywords

Somatic embryogenesis Virus-free plants Virus elimination Plavac mali Babica Vitis vinifera L. RT-PCR Croatian grapevine cultivars

Article Details

Author Biographies

Nenad Malenica, University of Zagreb

Division of Molecular Biology, Department of Biology, Faculty of Science

Mateja Jagic, University of Zagreb

Division of Molecular Biology, Department of Biology, Faculty of Science

Bruno Pavletic, University of Zagreb

Graduate Programme Molecular Biology, Faculty of Science

Natasa Bauer, University of Zagreb

Division of Molecular Biology, Department of Biology, Faculty of Science

Darko Voncina, University of Zagreb

Department of Plant Pathology, Faculty of Agriculture

Dunja Leljak Levanic, University of Zagreb

Division of Molecular Biology, Department of Biology, Faculty of Science
How to Cite
Malenica, N., Jagic, M., Pavletic, B., Bauer, N., Voncina, D., Zdunic, G., & Leljak Levanic, D. (2020). Somatic embryogenesis as a tool for virus elimination in Croatian indigenous grapevine varieties. Acta Botanica Croatica, 79(1). Retrieved from https://www.abc.botanic.hr/index.php/abc/article/view/2682