1807:
Histological Analysis of Blueberry Regeneration
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Illinois/Missouri/Meramec (Millennium Hotel St. Louis)
Kate L. Thomas, Plant and Soil Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE
Thompson D. Pizzolato, Professor, Plant and Soil Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE
Joanne M. Kramer, Animal and Food Science, University of Delaware, Newark, DE
Conrad R. Pope, Animal and Food Science, University of Delaware, Newark, DE
James J. Polashock, USDA-ARS, Blueberry & Cranberry Res Lab, Chatsworth, NJ
Sherry Kitto, Plant and Soil Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE
Blueberry, Vaccinium corymbosum ‘Aurora”, was cultured in vitro on regeneration medium and histologically analyzed in an effort to identify the regenerative cells. Leaves with petioles were cultured on Woody Plant Medium supplemented with TDZ and IAA with the adaxial surface in contact with the medium and samples were removed daily and fixed to capture all stages of regeneration. Leaves were found to vary greatly in reaction time and intensity, as there was a gradient of division from adaxial to abaxial and from proximal to distal ends of the leaves. On three of the sectioned leaves, an area of organized division made a mound formation which appeared meristematic. The spongy parenchyma were the first cells to begin formation of this area, and are assumed to be the progenitors of regeneration. Further knowledge of blueberry regeneration not only helps to better understand the regeneration process, but could also prove useful in transformation studies of blueberry.
