in vitro propagation of tunisian local garlic (allium sativum l.) from shoot-tip culture

Purpose: tunisian garlic is widely threatened by the attack of several viruses genus. for this purpose, a reliable protocol was established for rapid in vitro propagation of local garlic (allium sativum l.) for large-scale production of virus-free plants and high quality bulblets. research method: well disinfected shoot-tips of 1 mm were used as explants and cultivated on ms basal solid media enriched with various growth regulators: 6-benzylaminopurine, α-naphthalene- acetic acid, kinetin, indole-3-butyric acid and 2-isopentenyladenine for assessment of shoot formation, shoot proliferation and bulb formation. findings: among the different phytohormone concentrations and combinations, ms basal medium without any growth regulators (m0) was found optimal for shoot-tip initiation (96% explants development) and plantlets elongation (56.26 mm). for shoot proliferation, the m1 culture medium containing 1 mg l^-1 bap and 0.25 mg l^-1 naa was the best, giving a multiplication rate of 1.7 plantlets/explant. shoots on m0 culture medium formed bulblets earlier. multiple bulblets per explants were obtained on medium m22 containing 2 mg l^-1 kin and 0.1 mg l^-1 naa. separated bulblets were transferred individually on bulbification media. non-dividable bulblet was developed in various sizes. research limitations: bulblet acclimatization step needs to be well studied for high quality cloves production. originality/value: this efficient optimized in vitro protocol will be successfully applied for large multiplication of virus-free garlic cultivars.