Micropropagation of Aglaonema ‘Pink Lady’ for authentic varietal production

Articles in Press

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Departmemt of Horticultural Sciences, Faculty of Plant Production, Gorgan University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources

2 Department of Horticultural Science and Landscape Engineering, Faculty of Plant Production, Gorgan University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, Gorgan, Iran

Abstract

Objective: Aglaonema, belonging to the Araceae family, is an evergreen herbaceous plant with attractive ornamental foliage suitable for home decoration. Traditional propagation methods, such as stem cuttings and plant division, have low efficiency and high costs. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of in vitro propagation of Aglaonema ‘Pink Lady’.
Methods: Aglaonema ‘Pink Lady’ stem cuttings were disinfected with 70% ethanol for 30 seconds and immersed in 10% Clorox solution for 10-30 minutes at the Tissue Culture Laboratory, University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, Gorgan, Iran (2023-2024). The washed explants were cultured on the MS medium supplemented with different concentrations of 6-benzyladenine (BA) (0–1 mg/L) and naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA) (0–1.5 mg/L). Additionally, the effects of higher thidiazuron (TDZ) levels (2–16 mg/L) on direct shoot induction were evaluated. The experiment was arranged in a completely randomized design with four replications. Explants were placed in jars containing 30 mL of culture medium and incubated at 25±1°C with 16 hours of light and 8 hours of darkness. Data were collected after 40 and 80 days, measuring callus weight, number and length of shoots, and number and length of roots.
Results: The highest number of Aglaonema shoots (two shoots) was obtained in the MS medium containing 1 mg/L BA and 0.5 mg/L NAA after 80 days of culture. The use of 1 mg/L TDZ produced the highest average shoot length, followed by 0.5 mg/L TDZ combined with 0.5 mg/L NAA. The maximum number of roots for the regenerated Aglaonema was observed at 0 and 0.25 mg/L BA combined with different levels of NAA (0.5, 1, and 1.5 mg/L) after 40 days of culture. The use of high levels of TDZ, such as concentrations of 9 and 16 mg/L, increased the average number of shoots per stem explant to 40. Rooted plantlets, when transferred to the greenhouse, achieved more than 90% acclimatization. All regenerated plants retained the morphological characteristics of the corresponding mother plant.
Conclusion: This experiment demonstrated that high levels of TDZ can significantly lead to direct organogenesis in stem explants of the Aglaonema cultivar ‘Pink Lady’. However, the genetic variability of the regenerated shoots for producing plants similar to the original remains to be continuously monitored.

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References

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Journal of Plant Physiology and Breeding

Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript
Available Online from 23 November 2025

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