Evaluation of physiological responses of hazelnut (Corylus avellana L.) explants to MS and WPM culture media

In this study, the importance of culture medium and explant selection in microclonal propagation of hazelnut plants was investigated. The results showed that the success of microclonal propagation of hazelnut depends not only on the chemical composition of the culture medium, but also on the morphological and physiological characteristics of the explants. The results of the experiment on hazelnut microclonal propagation showed that the WPM culture medium has significant advantages over classical MS medium, especially in terms of stimulating the proliferation of single-node shoots and minimizing callus formation. The low ionic charge and balanced nitrogen profile of this medium promote stable growth and organogenesis of plants. In addition, single-node shoots were selected as the explant with the highest regeneration capacity. In the studies, the genotype dependence of the in vitro morphogenetic response of hazelnut plants was clearly observed. The “Giffoni” variety showed a particularly high regeneration capacity, while the “Galib” and “Sachaglı” varieties responded poorly. Also, while single-node shoots showed high regeneration capacity, leaf segments had poor regeneration potential. In conclusion, the WPM culture medium provides optimal conditions for in vitro propagation of hazelnut plants and emphasizes the importance of a personalized approach to increase the efficiency of microclonal propagation. Keywords: Corylus avellana, explants, WPM, MS, single-node shoot, regeneration potential