ENHANCEMENT OF PRODUCTION AND QUALITY OF STEVIA PLANTS BY MODERN BIOTECHNOLOGICAL METHODS

Abstract

This study was carried out in the Laboratory of Tissue Culture, in Centre of Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, Faculty of Agriculture, Ain Shams University, Shoubra El-Keima, Egypt. Molecular DNA manipulations were carried out in the Laboratory of Gene Expression and Regulation Technologies (GERT), Agricultural Genetic Engineering Research Institute (AGERI), Agricultural Research Centre (ARC), Giza, Egypt, during the period from 2012-2017. Four cultivars of stevia were provided by the Sugar Crops Research Institute (SCRI), Agricultural Research Centre (ARC). Cultivars Spantia, Shou2A3, China, and High Sugar were tested to optimize in vitro propagation. Four different combinations of growth regulators treatments were investigated [6-benzylamino purine (BAP) + Kinetin (Kin) (0.25 + 0.25 mg/l); Forchloefenuron (Cppu) + Kin (0.25 + 0.25 mg/l); Cppu+ Kin (0.5+0.25 mg/l); and the control medium (growth regulators-free)]. Out of the different media components, the growth regulators-free medium produced the best performance of explants. The analysis of variance showed that:-