Field performance and phenotypic stability in micropropagated apple

摘要

The virus-free young apple trees of cultivars' Fuji' and 'Golden Delicious' micropropagated (MP) were evaluated for 3 years in succession for field performance and phenotypic stability compared to conventional propagated (CP) plants. MP plants had more vegetative growth than CP plants. There were no differences in flowering time, and floral morphology between MP and CP plants except in the first flowering year the percentage of flowering plants of MP was lower than that of CP plants. Pollen from MP plants had the same characteristics as that from CP plants. There were no significant differences in fruit maturity, coloring, weight,firmness, Brix surgar and acid content. MP plants performed higher in uniformity of appearance than CP plants. It was suggested that micropropagation with shoot tip is a useful practice to propagate these virus-free cultivars.