Establishment of in vitro aseptic culture of Philodendron xanadu Croat

ABSTRACT The philodendron is a plant with a high sales price, however, in Mexico there is not enough plant material available for the producers of this ornamental. Therefore, the objective of this research was to establish an in vitro aseptic culture of philodendron, for this, the effect of fungicides and bactericides applied from the transplantation of mother plants to the production and harvest of explants (axillary shoots) for in vitro establishment was evaluated. Two experiments were carried out using MS culture medium; in the second, silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) were added to the culture medium. Both experiments were established in a completely randomized experimental design. It was observed that with the joint action of the sanitizing products in the treatment of mother plants and in the disinfection process, as well as the addition of AgNPs to the culture medium, it was possible to establish an aseptic culture of philodendron. Results show that 2 g L-1 of Agry-Gent Plus 5000® plus 2 g L-1 of Prozycar® in the treatment of mother plants was the one generated the highest percentage of aseptic explants (25.71%) in the first in vitro establishment, while, in the second experiment, the same products plus the addition of AgNPs to the culture medium for seven days generated 100% aseptic explants. The contaminants identified were yeasts, Aspergillus sp. and Penicillium sp.