Application of in vitro Culture for Resistance to Desertification

Abstract. the development of micropropagation systems could havewide applications in agricultural production and environmentalprotection. from the environmental perspective, in vitro culture hasbeen widely used for the propagation and conservation of crop geneticresources. in agriculture, micro- propagation technology was usedsuccessfully for the mass production of four tree species: dalbergiasissoo, delonix regia,parkinsonia aculeata and robenia pseudoacaciawhich were obtained from antoniadis botanical garden, alexandria,egypt. this technique helped to overcome some germinationproblems and subsequently the perpetuation of the unique traits ofcertain strains.drought and salinity are the most serious threats to agricultureand to the environment in many parts of the world. salt- tolerantclone(s) in banana, using in vitro mutation method, have beeninvestigated. the use of rapd technique was sensitive and powerfulto detect genetic variation at the level of dna among bananasomaclones. this might be of particular importance in the future,dealing with in vitro selection to stress conditions.the date palm helps to prevent soil erosion as well asdesertification and is necessary for the protection of cereals, other fruittrees and grasses from direct exposure to the sun. until now,micropropagation of date palm by in vitro culture has had very limitedsuccess. our preliminary studies at desert development center (theamerican university in cairo, sadat city, egypt) with clonalpropagation of egyptian date palm variety zagloul indicated thatmass cloning in palms was probably only possible through somaticembroyogenesis via callus. so, regeneration from somaticembroyogenesis remains a major problem for micropropagation ofdate palm. successful cloning protocols have been established for some multipurpose forest trees which are suitable for desertagriculture, such as casuarina, and acacia.micropropagation technique offers a new approach for massproduction of apple and peach rootstocks which are suitable for desertconditions in egypt