Corrigendum to "Effect of vermicompost on vegetative growth and nutrient status of acclimatized Grand Naine banana plants" [Heliyon 8 (10), October 2022, Article e10914].

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2022.e10914.].

Effect of vermicompost on vegetative growth and nutrient status of acclimatized Grand Naine banana plants.

Novel approach for introducing vermicompost as an acclimatization soil for banana plants was conducted. Different potting mixture of vermicompost, vermiculite, peatmoss and sand at different ratios were used to study the effect of different agricultural media on vegetative growth and leaf mineral content of banana tissue culture plantlets, after acclimatization stage. Two different trial periods were studied; 12 and 24 weeks in these agricultural media for two seasons. Results indicated that using vermicompost combined with vermiculite and sand (33.3% for each) recorded the best results for the most vegetative growth studied parameters (plant height, plants and roots length, stem diameter, leaf width and shoot and root fresh and dry weight). Moreover, vermicompost at 50% + peat moss at 50% significantly increased total chlorophyll content in banana plants. Furthermore, N, P and K plant analysis has shown that vermicompost at 75% with peat moss gave the highest mineral content values at the two periods. Addition of vermicompost to the culture media improved in vitro-produced banana plants in greenhouse.

High-frequency direct somatic embryogenesis and plantlet regeneration from date palm immature inflorescences using picloram.

BACKGROUND: Date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) is a traditional crop in arid and semi-arid areas. Its vegetative propagation can be achieved by offshoots, but possible number of offshoots in mother palm trees is limited. Micropropagation is a highly recommended strategy for obtaining date palm elite cultivars using shoot tip and immature inflorescences. In this study, micropropagation procedure using inflorescence explants of Medjool cv. is described. For culture initiation, explants from different spathe lengths were cultivated on Murashige and Skoog medium (MS) supplemented with picloram at 1.0 and 2.0 mg/l combined with 2iP at 0.5 mg/l alone and with both 2iP and BA at 0.25 mg/l for 24 weeks. The obtained direct globular embryos were transferred to maturation media with 0.1 mg/l picloram alone or combined with both 2iP and ABA separately and together for further development. Additionally, multiplication and rooting media were optimized by different cytokinins and auxins for high frequency of plantlet production. Acclimatization of in vitro plantlets was also investigated. RESULTS: The highest percentage of globular embryo formation was noticed with explants isolated from spathe lengths ranging from 10 to 15 cm. Addition of BA to initiation media with picloram encouraged a significant effect on embryonic culture formation percentage. Incorporation of ABA and 2iP to maturation medium was an effective factor for individual or multiple embryo emergence. Acclimatization of in vitro plantlets having 3-4 roots was successfully accomplished. Irrigation with the full strength solution (MS) encouraged the highest growth vigor degree, leaf number/plant, leaf width, root number, and root thickness degree of ex vitro plants. CONCLUSION: This research provides an advanced regeneration system for large-scale production of date palm from immature inflorescences of Medjool cv. It opens up the prospects of using picloram with different growth regulators for rapid micropropagation of date palm.

Thidiazuron-induced direct organogenesis from immature inflorescence of three date palm cultivars.

BACKGROUND: Inflorescence explants of date palm proved to be a promising tool for micropropagation of elite cultivars or rare males and females as organogenesis and somatic embryogenesis could be achieved. These plant materials are abundantly available every year and can be used as cheap and potent explants. Nevertheless, many difficulties could be faced in this protocol according to selection of the spathe size and age, media components, growth regulators, etc. The aim of this study was to determine the influence of various cytokinins on direct organs induction of three date palm cultivars (Selmi, Barhee, and Medjool) from immature inflorescence. An additional objective of this study was to investigate the effect of cytokinins and auxins on growth and development of Medjool cultivar. RESULTS: Various combinations of cytokinins were investigated on three date palm inflorescences as N6-(2-isopentenyl) adenine (2iP), kinetin, benzyleadenine (BA), and thidiazuron (N-phenyl-N'-1,2,3-thidiazol-5-yl urea) (TDZ). TDZ alone or in combination with BA proved to be superior for direct organogenesis in all three cultivars so that another combination of TDZ with BA was conducted. Results showed that moderate concentration of BA, with TDZ, gave superior response. Medjool cultivar response surpassed other two cultivars that made the possibility to conduct some growth regulators treatments on its multiplication and regeneration. TDZ at 0.5 + BA at 1.0 mg/l without activated charcoal seemed to enhance multiplication rate. Medium containing 0.5 mg/l of both naphthaleneacetic acid and indole butyric acid in addition to 1.0 mg/l indole acetic acid appeared to be more suitable for rooting stage of Medjool shootlets. CONCLUSION: In this study, we created an innovation sequence of growth regulators included in nutrient media for date palm direct organogenesis from inflorescence. Organogenesis has been accelerated from immature inflorescence explants and developed to healthy plantlets which acclimatized in greenhouse.

Enhanced Indirect Somatic Embryogenesis of Date Palm Using Low Levels of Seawater.

Date palm tolerates salinity, drought, and high temperatures. Arid and semiarid zones, especially the Middle East region, need a huge number of date palms for cultivation. To meet this demand, tissue culture techniques have great potential for mass production of plantlets, especially using the indirect embryogenesis technique; any improvement of these techniques is a worthy objective. Low levels of salinity can enhance growth and development of tolerant plants. A low level of seawater, a natural source of salinity, reduces the time required for micropropagation processes of date palm cv. Malkaby when added to MS medium. Medium containing seawater at 500 ppm total dissolved solid (TDS) (12.2 mL/L) improves callus proliferation, whereas 1500 ppm (36.59 mL/L) enhances plant regeneration including multiplication of secondary embryos, embryo germination, and rooting.