IN VITRO CLONAL MICROPROPAGATION OF IZMIR OREGANO (Origanum onites L. cv. “Ceylan-2002”)

In this study, which was carried out to develop an in vitro clonal micropropagation procedure in elite cultivar of Origanum onites L. cv Ceylan-2002, node explants were subjected to pre-washing and different sterilization methods. The highest level of sterilization efficacy was achieved in sterilization trials using diverse durations and commercial bleach doses, with a 100% success rate. Mean regenerated shoots number per explant (0.13), mean shoot length (0.12 cm), and mean leaf number (0.87) were achieved in MS medium+2 mg l-1 BAP+0.3 gl-1 activated carbon after four weeks of culture. The highest propagation coefficient (3.40) was obtained in the 4th subculture. In the rooting experiments the highest mean stem thickness value (2.02 mm) and the highest mean shoot length (10.02 cm) were obtained in media containing 1.0 g l-1 activated carbon. The rooted plantlets (100%) were acclimatized with a survival success rate of 16.25%. Essential oil analysis of well-developed rooted plantlets was performed using GC-MSD. The highest essential oil content (2.00%) was determined in regenerated shoots from MS medium+2 mg l-1 IBA+1 g l-1 activated carbon. The highest thymol ratio (65.33%) was found in regenerated shoots from ½ MS media supplemented with 0.5 mg l-1 IBA+1 g l-1 activated carbon. The highest carvacrol ratio (6.82%) identified in regenerated shoots was obtained from MS media, including 2.0 mg l-1 IBA+1 g l-1 activated carbon.