1. IN VITRO PROPAGATION OF BREADFRUIT (Artocarpus altilis)

2. INTRODUCTION
In Vitro propagation (tissue culture) offers prospects for rapid bulking up of Breadfruit planting material
Usually vegetatively propagated using shoot or root cuttings and is essential for multiplication of seedless varieties
Seeds: are rarely planted because of genetic variability and viability
Research is being conducted at the FARC Tissue Culture Section, Réduit on Breadfruit “In Vitro Mass Propagation”

3. Aims: Development of a commercially efficient Micropropagation Protocol for Breadfruit
Expected to contribute to Local Sustainable Resources for Agriculture, Backyard Planting, Agro-forestry, Reforestation and ultimately Food Security
Possibility for safe trans-boundary movement towards other countries interested in Breadfruit farming.

4. BENEFITS OF IN VITRO PROPAGATION
FAST: More plants produced in a given period
Plantlets produced are genetically identical
Plants are produced under sterile conditions
Year round production of plantlets and not dependent on external environment
Little space requirement for multiplication
Propagated material can be stored for a long time
Little attention required for In Vitro cultures between subcultures

5. CONSTRAINTS Requirement for specialised production facilities
Propagation Protocol development is time consuming
Plantlets obtained are small and juvenile
Genetic Variability can occur upon excessive sub-culturing
Transitional phase required for adaptation of plantlets to In Vivo conditions

6. GENERALISED METHODOLOGY
The General steps undertaken for the In Vitro Mass Propagation protocol development were:
Explant Collection and Surface Sterilisation
Establishment of Aseptic Cultures
Shoot multiplication
Rooting of shoots
Acclimatisation of Rooted TC Plantlets

7. These media are referred to as:
TISSUE CULTURE MEDIA
Three Culture media have been Successfully formulated at the FARC Tissue Culture Section based on Literature Leads available
These media are referred to as:
Establishment Media (EM)
Shoot Multiplication Media (SM)
Rooting Media (RM)

8. INITIATION OF STERILE CULTURES
In vitro cultures were initiated from shoot buds collected from Réduit
The buds were thoroughly cleaned and surface sterilised

9. Cultures were then inoculated on Establishment Media

10. RESULTS and OBSERVATIONS
Four trials were undertaken for development of an efficient Surface Sterilisation Protocol
Success rate of the Selected Sterilisation Protocol was 85 % after modifications brought
Contamination was mainly of bacterial origin

11. MORTALITY
Despite successful initiation of Aseptic Cultures death of explants was a major drawback during trials
Mortality from trials due to explant necrosis were principally because of:
Unsuitable Establishment Media
Too Severe Surface Sterilisation Procedures
Release of Phenolics by explants

12. MICROPROPAGATION
Mass production of Breadfruit plantlets was achieved by transferring explants to Shoot Multiplication Media

13. SUBCULTURE Sub-culturing of plantlets was done every 5-7 weeks
Axillary branches and buds were excised from main shoots and inoculated on fresh media
An overall multiplication rate of was observed

14. Growth Room Conditions
Cultures were kept in Growth Room at a temperature of 25oC and a 16hrs photoperiod

15. ROOTING OF PLANTLETS
Rooted plantlets were obtained 5-6 weeks after inoculation on Rooting Media
However, Root development on Rooting Media was observed for only about 60% of plantlets.

16. HARDENING
Rooted plantlets of about 5cm in height were selected for hardening
Trials have been performed on different hardening media ( Soil, Rocksand and Perlite)
Plantlets were kept in the ECU for adaptation to In Vivo conditions

17. Hardening is expected to last between 5-8 mths
Leaf Margins were smooth in In Vitro cultures compared to the typical Lobed leaf morphology under In Vivo conditions
Hardening could be considered successful as soon as plantlets develop the typical lobed leaves characteristic

18. FUTURE WORKS Fine tuning and Optimisation of protocol
Reducing production time and cost of plantlets production
Assessment of genetic fidelity of plantlets after successive sub-culturing
Optimisation of conditioning & hardening for higher % survival
In Vitro conservation of Breadfruit Varieties

19. THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION