Micropropagation of Vaccinium corymbosum L.‘Bluecrop’ in Rocker Temporary Immersion System (TIS) Bioreactor.

Blueberries are high-value fruits. The traditional method of propagation by cuttings cannot supply the modern market with large quantities of seedlings. The method of micropropagation of plants in vitro makes it possible to bring the production of blueberry seedlings to the highest level. Blueberries have not been sufficiently studied in in vitro culture, so the search for the simplest and most cost-effective methods of micropropagation remains relevant. The problem of accelerated micropropagation of blueberries can be solved using rocker-type bioreactors, which differ from other models in terms of simplicity of design and low cost. A study was carried out to evaluate the effectiveness of micropropagation of Vaccinium corymbosum 'Bluecrop' in rocker bioreactors. Two types of bioreactors were compared: the bioreactor of the Platform system and the TIS rocker bioreactor modified by the author. As a control, blueberries were grown on a semi-solid medium. The effectiveness of blueberry micropropagation was evaluated by the following indicators: multiplication coefficient, shoot length, and proportion of vitrified shoots. Experiments were conducted on WPM medium, with zeatin supplementation at a concentration of 1.0 mg/l, resulting in optimal results. It is shown that the rocker bioreactor is slightly inferior to the plantform bioreactor in micropropagation but outperforms the method of micropropagation on semisolid media. The rocker bioreactor can be fully utilized for production purposes. In order to reduce costs and increase technical reliability, the working principle of the mechanical drive of the author's model of a rocker-type bioreactor was changed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]