Direct plant regeneration from mature leaf explants of pistachio, Pistacia vera L.

A protocol was developed for direct shoot and plantlet regeneration from in vitro regenerated leaf explants of male Pistacia vera L. cv. ‘Atlı’. Leaves excised from axenic shoot cultures of pistachio were used to induce organogenesis on a Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium with Gamborg vitamins supplemented with combinations of different concentrations of BAP and IAA. The highest adventitious shoot regeneration in 35% of the explants, with the number of shoots ranging from 2 to 3 per explant, occurred in the explants cultured during the establishment phase in the medium with 1 mg l−1 IAA and 2 mg l−1 BAP. For shoot multiplication, the highest number of new microshoot/explants (5.76) was obtained in a culture medium supplemented with 1 mg l−1 BAP, but it was not significantly different from the number obtained at 2 mg l−1 BAP. A high rooting frequency (84%) for microshoots was recorded on a medium supplemented with 2 mg l−1 IBA. In vitro rooted plantlets were transferred to pots filled with a mixture of soil, sand and peat (1:1:1). They were weaned in a growth room and finally moved to a greenhouse. This protocol could be utilized for in vitro clonal propagation of this economically important plant.