Conservation of Vaccinium cylindraceum Smith (Ericaceae) by micropropagation using seedling nodal explants

Summary An efficient in vitro shoot propagation method for Vaccinium cylindraceum Smith by axillary bud proliferation was developed in this study. Cultures of V. cylindraceum were established on a Zimmerman and Broome medium supplemented with increasing concentrations of N ⁶-[2-isopentyl] adenine (2-iP), using nodal and shoot-tip explants from three different islands. Best shoot production was obtained when nodal segments were cultured in the medium supplemented with 12.3 and 24.6 μM 2-iP. Shoots were rooted in vitro in the same media without 2-iP and cultured ex vitro in Jiffy 7^? pellets. About 99% of the rooted plants survived.