Abstract
The chestnuts genus (Castanea spp.) is comprised of economically important trees native to the Northern hemisphere that are used as food and hardwood timber. Here, a very efficient method for micropropagation of European × Japanese chestnut hybrids (Castanea sativa × C. crenata) is described. Woody Plant Medium was used as the basal medium. In vitro shoots of four rootstock cultivars were micropropagated without shoot-tip necrosis on multiplication medium containing 5.7 or 11.4 µmol·L−1 zeatin riboside, and were rooted on rooting medium containing 2.46 µmol·L−1 indolebutyric acid. Monthly shoot multiplication rates for each cultivar were 2–5 folds. In vitro rooting percentages for four cultivars were 87% for ‘Maraval’, 67% for ‘Marigoule’, 93% for ‘Marsol’, and 97% for ‘Précoce Migoule’. Within a 5 week period, 80%–95% of rooted shoots were successfully acclimated under high humidity conditions after they were planted in either soil or rockwool.
