880 PB 270 In Vitro Flower and Plant Formation from Opuntia dillenii Haw. and Opuntia cochenillifera Mill.
The genus Opuntia includes a number of species which produce nutritious fruits and edible young joints, moreover, they are used as forage crop and for medicinal purposes. A procedure for flower and plant formation is described. Explants were excised from young flower receptacle and cultured on Murashige and Skoog medium (MS) supplemented with 0.9, 1.8, 4.5, or 9 uM thidiazuron and 0.5 uM naphthaleneacetic acid. Produced shoots were bisected longitudinally and cultured in a fresh medium from the same composition, other half shoots were subjected to a second cut by dividing transversely into distal and proximal explants before culture. About 80% explants of O. dellini produced flowers which produced shoots form the distal ales. only shoots were formed from O. cochenillifera explants. The distal explants produced more shoots than proximal explants. All formed shoots which attained 3 mm in length or longer were rooted directly in soil and all shoots formed roots and produced normal plants.