Micropropagation of Raspberries (Rubus idaeus L.) in Liquid Media by Temporary Immersion Bioreactor in Comparison with Gelled Media

Temporary Immersion Bioreactor (TIB) is a suitable technique for large scale micropropagation of plant species. The aim of this work was to test the capacity of in vitro proliferation of the primocane-fruiting red raspberry cv Maravilla and floricane-fruiting red raspberry cv Willamette on gelled media compared to liquid media. The two varieties were cultured in vitro on two media, Murashige and Skoog 1962 (MS) and Driver and Kuniyuki walnut medium, 1984 (DKW), both supplemented with 0.5 mg/l 6-benzyladenine (BA). In the control cultures on gelled media the media were gelled with 5g/l Plant Agar, whereas for the cultures in liquid media Plantform bioreactors were used. After six weeks of in vitro culture we recorded the proliferation rates and lengths of the axillary shoots obtained in all the experimental treatments. The highest proliferation rate was 16 ± 2.03, obtained in cv. Willamette on gelled MS medium with 0.5 mg/l BA. The longest shoots (3.17 ± 0.32 cm) were obtained at cv. Maravilla on the DKW medium with 0.5 mg / l BA in the bioreactor. Our research highlighted that Rubus idaeus L. Maravilla and Willamette can be TIB propagated, although further research is needed to improve the efficiency of this method.