Invitro culture of Chloraea gavilu Lindl., an endemic terrestrial orchid from Chile

Abstract

Orchids are the second most diverse plant family, recognized for their importance as ornamental species; this has driven research development in propagation. One of the most common culture methodologies is in vitro asymbiotic germination, in which the nutritional conditions that provide orchids with a fungal partner are emulated. Although Chile possesses more than 60 terrestrial orchid species, in vitro cultivation protocols have only been developed for Chloraea crispa. In Southern Chile, Chloraea gavilu stands out due to its floral characteristics. We evaluate different explants and cultivation conditions for C. gavilu. The best germination and development results were achieved in the MM medium +0.1% yeast extract +1% sucrose +0.454 µmol l⁻¹ TDZ, using immature seeds of 24–30 days after pollination, which we cultivated into seedlings in order to be acclimatized and mycorrhized. In addition, induction of protocorm-like bodies was achieved from germinated seeds, using the same culture media as in the germination and development of immature C. gavilu seeds. This resulted in the successful asymbiotic germination of immature seeds, along with the micropropagation of a terrestrial, temperate orchid. We hope to use our protocol in the commercial production of Chilean orchid species as well as to propagate threatened species.

Keywords:

• Chilean orchids
• immature seeds
• asymbiotic germination
• in vitro culture
• conservation

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank the Ilustre Municipalidad de Angol and Grupo SAESA for the funding that allowed us to carry out this study. We would also like to acknowledge Dina Beltran for her collaboration in the elongation and rooting tests, Andrea Ugarte for her illustration of the protocorm states of development, and Etica en los Bosques and the Comité Iniciativa Nahuelbuta for their on-site logistics support.