Description

After introduction of strawberry cultivation in Bangladesh and development of new varieties from a Japanese genotype at the Department of Botany, Rajshahi University, Bangladesh, strawberry cultivation and its popularity as a cash crop have been rapidly increased. For further improvement, it is important to develop more adaptable varieties for large-scale production of strawberry in Bangladesh. Leaf explants were cultured on MS medium with 2,4-D, or NAA alone or with BA for callus induction. Calli were cultured for shoot regeneration in MS medium with BA alone or with BA + NAA and BA + NAA + KIN. After successful regeneration, shoots were rooted in MS0 and the plantlets were acclimatized and successfully established in field condition. The regenerated plants grown in the field showed wide range of variations. Some of the somaclones exhibited better yield performances than those of micropropagated mother plants. The results concluded that genetic variation in strawberry could be widen further through the use of indirect plant regeneration that could open an opportunity for selection of elite clones.