Abstract
Key message
Morphological, agronomical and physiological performance of clonal coconut palms, and the proximate composition (kernel), sugar profile (coconut water) were either similar or superior to the seed germinated palms. Genetic stability of regenerated coconut plants was confirmed using simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers.
Abstract
Micropropagation of coconut provides a way for a large-scale propagation of elite coconut cultivars for both local and international markets. The use of micropropagated plants in coconut industry depends on the evidence to prove that such materials are not divergent from ordinary plant materials produced through conventional methods. The present study was designed to evaluate the genetic fidelity and various morphological, agronomical, physiological and fruit nutrient component parameters of similar aged micropropagated and seed-derived hybrid coconut CRIC65, after 12 years of growth in the field. Molecular characterization using simple sequence repeat markers (SSR) provides assurance of genetic fidelity of regenerated palms by scoring identical alleles at the genomic SSR loci tested in the study. Sugar profiles of coconut water and proximate compositions of the coconut kernel showed no significant differences between micropropagated and seed-propagated progenies. Micropropagated coconut palms had an overall physiological performance similar to seed-derived palms. While the majority of the fruit components were statistically similar between the micropropagated and seed-derived progenies, a few economically important components of the fruits such as nut weight, kernel fresh weight and kernel dry weight were superior in micropropagated plants. This suggests that the field performance of the clones of CRI65 derived through micropropagation to be comparative or superior depending on the criteria used in the parental selection of hybrid production. Accordingly, in addition to the multiplication of clonal material of genetically improved coconut hybrids micropropagation techniques facilitate the improvement of the clonal progeny by selecting superior mother palms for micropropagation.
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Acknowledgements
The authors are grateful to the National Research Council, Sri Lanka (Grant No: 15–124) for financing this project. The authors also gratefully acknowledge Mrs. S. Fernando, Miss. W.W. M. A. Iroshini and Miss N. Perera for assisting with PCR analysis, Ms. T. R. Gunathilake, Ms. E. M. N. Maduwanthi Mr. H. M. N. B. Herath and Mr. N. Premasiri, for the assistance given for data collection.
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National Research Council, Sri Lanka (Grant No: 15–124).
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Communicated by John Carlson.
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Bandupriya, H.D.D., Perera, S.A.C.N., Ranasinghe, C.S. et al. Physiological, biochemical and molecular evaluation of micropropagated and seed-grown coconut (Cocos nucifera L.) palms. Trees 36, 127–138 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00468-021-02187-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00468-021-02187-8