Modes of morphogenesis inheritance in vitro in strawberry (Fragaria x ananassa Duch.)

The phenomenon of morphogenesis observed in in vitro cultures, as the ability of cultured cells and/or plant tissues to regenerate into a complete plant, is used for propagation of orchard species plants of the genus Fragaria spp. Genetic mechanisms controlling the in vitro morphogenesis process are still not fully understood. Research has been conducted to broaden knowledge about the genetic control of this process. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of cytoplasmic loci on the inheritance of the cell morphogenetic potential within the species Fragaria x ananassa. The study included five strawberry cultivars—‘Dukat’, ‘Jota’, ‘Temptation’, ‘Pastel’ and ‘Senga Sengana’. The third Griffing method of diallel crossing was fully useful for achieving the purpose of the research, because it allowed, by comparing the effects of reciprocal crosses for each crossing combination, determining the possible impact of cytoplasmic loci on the inheritance of morphogenetic abilities in the analyzed cultivars. Evaluation of the effects of reciprocal crosses showed different modes of inheritance of the morphogenetic potential in vitro of plant cells of these strawberry cultivars. The strawberry cultivar ‘Dukat’ transmitted genetic determinants of the morphogenetic potential cytoplasmically. Nuclear transmission of the morphogenetic potential was recorded for the cultivar ‘Senga Sengana’. ‘Jota’, ‘Temptation’ and ‘Pastel’ cultivars passed on this trait in a cytoplasmic-nuclear mode. Morphogenesis efficiency of hybrids, whose maternal forms transmitted the morphogenetic potential in a cytoplasmic-nuclear mode, depended likely on the interaction between the maternal plasmotype and the paternal nuclear genes.