In vitro propagation and assessment of genetic stability in date palm as affected by chitosan and thidiazuron combinations

Background Mass propagation of date palm has attracted the interest of commercial producers. However, this technique still faces many obstacles that hinder production. This study investigated the effect of chitosan (CHT) at various concentrations for the possibility to apply it in combination with thidiazuron (TDZ) on the growth and development of tissue cultures of Barhee cultivar. Results The results showed that CHT and TDZ on in vitro proliferation of Barhee date palm cultivar were significant. The highest response rate and the number of shoots per jar were found in MS media supplemented with 15 mgL –1 CHT and 0.5 mgL –1 TDZ combination. Furthermore, we found that the combined application between 20 mg L −1 CHT+ 1.0 mg L −1 TDZ resulted in the highest shoots content of endogenous IAA, compared with other treatments. At the same time, the data revealed that the maximum cytokinins (CKs) content of shoots occurred in a medium supplemented with 15 mg L −1 CHT and 0.5 mg L −1 TDZ. The genetic stability of the discussed micropropagation protocol was confirmed in this study by DNA-based technique RAPD (random amplified polymorphic DNA). The results may indicate that the micropropagation protocol developed in this research paper was appropriate and applicable for producing genetically stable date palm cv Barhee plants. Conclusion Applying the strategy of culture treatment with (CHT) and (TDZ) can be valuable for improving the propagation of date palm cv Barhee in vitro.