MICRO-PROPAGATION AND VARIATIONS OF RABBITEYE BLUEBERRY (Vaccinium ashei)

Rabbiteye blueberry is an important economic fruit widely cultivated in the world. To build a stable and effective regeneration system, rabbiteye blueberry varieties ‘Premier’, ‘Gardenblue’ and ‘Brightwell’ were used as plant materials, and shoot regeneration and rooting system were studied using L9(34) orthogonal experimental designs and single-factor randomized complete block design respectively. The results indicated that the highest proliferation rate (4.12) was achieved for ‘Gardenblue’ blueberry shoots cultured in the WPM medium supplemented with 2.0 mg/L ZT and 0.1 mg/L NAA, while the highest rooting rate (92.10 %) using 1/2 WPM medium supplemented with 2.0 mg/L IBA. Shoots with red color were observed for the first time in blueberry. Red color of shoots degenerated as the regenerations increased. Low IBA concentration and enrichment of ZT might result in callus with roots developing. The system in this study presented a higher shoot proliferation and rooting ratios than previous reports.