MICROPROPAGATION OF AGAVE (Agave tequilana Weber. var. Azul) THROUGH AXILLARY BUDS

Abstract

Agave (Agave tequilana Weber var. azul), is commonly called, “Blue Agave or Agave Tequileroâ€. The agave plant is an important economic product of Mexico due to its base ingredient is Tequila, which is a popular distilled spirit. Agave in vitro propagation is a new technique to obtain rapid multiplication in a short time. The plant response to hormones must be evaluated for each species of Agave. The objective for this research was to generate agave plantlets from axillary buds by in vitro culture. Six month aged plants were brought from the production field. Buds were disinfected with 70% alcohol and 3% sodium hypochlorite for 15 minutes and triple rinsed under aseptic conditions. Explants were cultured in Murashige & Skoog (MS) medium, supplemented with 24.6 µM of AIB and 46.46 μM of Kinetin, sucrose 30 g L-1 and agar 8 g L-1. Medium was added at 25 mL per flask and sterilized at 121°C for 15 minutes. One explant per flask was cultured and incubated at 27°C and 16 hours light. The bud induction appears in four weeks after it was cultured and then they were subcultured in MS supplemented with 0.5 µM of AIB and 46.46 μM of Kinetin. The plantlets development was reached at four weeks after the buds induction. Agave micropropagation from auxiliary buds was completed within 10 weeks. The time required to get in vitro-plants were demonstrated using the in vitro technique propagation. It is an efficient process of mass multiplication to obtain healthy, pathogen free and vigorous plants.