Morphophysiological characteristics of acclimatized ‘Grande Naine’ banana plants in response to in vitro use of silicon

Abstract

Research about structural and physiological modifications inherent to the acclimatization process is fundamental to understand this phase. The objective of this work was evaluating different sources of silicon in the in vitro cultivation of the ‘Grande Naine’ banana plants on the biochemical, phytotechnical and ultrastructural characteristics during the acclimatization process. For such, banana tree plantlets already established in vitro were inoculated in Murashige & Skoog medium (MS) with the addition of 30 g L-1 of sucrose, 1 mg L-1 of ANA (naftalenoacetic acid) and solidified with 1,8 g L-1 of PhytagelTM. Three sources of silicate added to the MS medium, namely sodium silicate, potassium silicate and calcium silicate at the dosage of 1 g L-1 and to the MS medium without silicate as a control were tested. Elapsed 45 days from the in vitro rooting, the plants were kept in a greenhouse for 60 days. The experimental design was completely randomized. The use of silicon in vitro cultivation is beneficial for providing better photosynthetic apparatus, higher content of cellulose and hemicellulose during acclimatization of banana plants. The acclimatization process is essential because it provides an increase in epicuticular wax layer on leaves of ‘Grand Naine’ banana plants.