Micropropagation and Its Application for Ficus Species, Poster Board #138

The Ficus species is an important tree or shrub in biology and horticultural industry due to its unique inflorescence and distinctive pollination. Fig seeds are non-viable and regeneration through cuttings is difficulty, which limited its reproduction and development. Plant tissue culture has been used for Ficus stock plant improvement. During last 30 years, several researchers had reported success in plant regeneration from different explants in Ficus. The explants from Ficus species usually had a high percentage of contamination and meristems as explants or double sterilization could overcome the difficulty. MS media were the basic media and KT and NAA were good for callus induction for Ficus cariea, 2-iP and IAA for F. benjamanina, and 2, 4 -D and IAA for other Ficus species. For rooting, IBA were good for Ficus cariea, IAA for F. benjamanina, and NAA for other Ficus species. The application of tissue culture of Ficus mainly focused on commercial production techniques, pathogen free plantlets, genetic engineering, and cell suspension culture and protoplast. Up to now, only 13 species (out of 750) of Ficus had been reported in vitro culture. Micropropagation protocols had been standardized for only a few important Ficus species. However, much more research is still needed in the areas of judicious choice of the explants, coupled with some refinements in medium composition and regeneration efficiency. We should pay more attention on somatic embryogenesis and genetic engineering for some elite Ficus cultivars.