Clone specificity of white poplar (Populus alba L.) acidity tolerance in vitro

Abstract

© by PSP. Tissue culture is extensively used in evaluation of the abiotic stress tolerance in many plant species, including the effects of low pH. In this work, five white poplar genotypes were tested for their acidity tolerance after they were grown in vitro for 35 days on three experimental rooting media with different pH levels (pH 3.0, pH 4.0 and pH 5.5) adjusted with citric acid and sodium hydroxide. The genotypes were evaluated according to the set of 16 traits including biomass, content of photosynthetic pigments and oxidative stress-related biochemical parameters. The medium with pH 3.0 severely inhibited rooting in all examined genotypes and it was proved to be the most appropriate for acidity tolerance evaluation. Genotype L-80 exhibited the best performance according to all examined parameters. Obtained results emphasized the considerable potential of white poplar cultivation in tissue culture as a reliable and feasible method for the evaluation of genotype acidity tolerance.