Potato virus X eradication from potato meristem tips held at 30°C

Summary Thermotherapy of PVX infected potato plants at 30°C followed by in vitro tip culture at 24°C was more or less successful depending on the duration of the heart treatment. Virus inactivation in meristematic tissues was much more efficient when the heat treatment was applied to mature plants rather than to meristem tips cultured in viro. By combining 30°C treatment of potato plants with 30°C tip culture. PVX eradication was not improved but the final proportion of PVX-free plantlets was increased because the tip population developed faster, giving a higher number of rooted plantlets at 30°C than at 24°C.