Slow-growth conservation of potato microplants: efficacy of ancymidol for long-term storage in vitro

Ancymidol was investigated as an alternative mediumsupplement to mannitol for slow-growth conservation ofpotato microplants in vitro. Differentconcentrations of ancymidol (0, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30,35 and 40 M) were tested in slow-growthmedia based on MS medium supplemented with either 30or 60 gl^-1 sucrose. The cultures were conservedunder a 16-h photoperiod at two temperature regimesi.e. 24 ± 1 ^°C and 6 ± 1 ^°C. Therewere significant interactions between ancymidol andother factors such as sucrose, temperature andgenotype for microplant survival, microshoot heightand overall microplant growth. Ancymidol did have abeneficial effect on culture viability after prolongedmaintenance in vitro. The growth-inhibitingeffect of ancymidol persisted through a 16-monthculture period. Combined effect of ancymidol, sucroseand temperature showed that optimum culture viabilityand desirable microplant growth were obtained when thecultures were grown in MS medium supplemented with 10M ancymidol plus 60 gl^-1 sucrose at6 ± 1 ^°C. Vitrification and flaccidity, whichare very frequently observed in potato microplantcultures during prolonged maintenance in vitrounder osmotic stress (mannitol), were not observedwhen the microplants were conserved in ancymidolmedia. Genetic stability of potato microplantsconserved in ancymidol media was evaluated usingrandomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD)fingerprints. Ancymidol did not induce any detectablegenetic variation in genomic DNA as visualized by theabsence of either any additional RAPD fragment oralterations in RAPD fragment patterns.     

Evaluation of the dietary essentiality of vitamins for Penaeus monodon

The effect of deletion of individual water-soluble (thiamin, riboflavin, pyridoxine, cyanocobalamin, pantothenic acid, folic acid, niacin, biotin, choline, inositol and ascorbic acid) and fat-soluble vitamins (vitamins A, D, E and K) in semipurified diets on growth and survival of juvenile shrimp, Penaeus monodon , was studied in the laboratory for 8 weeks. Diets lacking riboflavin and vitamin K did not affect growth and survival of shrimp. However, deletion of inositol and choline in the diet resulted in poor growth. Maximum growth was observed in the control diet (C1) supplemented with all vitamins. Diets deficient in ascorbic acid, biotin, folic acid, niacin, thiamin and α-tocopherol resulted in poor appetite and poorer feed conversion efficiency. All treatments except the control (C1) resulted in histopathological changes in the digestive gland cells. Detachment or destruction of the epithelial cells was observed in all treatments lacking individual vitamins but more severely in the treatment without a vitamin supplement, followed by inositol, choline and ascorbic acid deficient diets.