Callus Induction and Maintenance in Seven Local Olive (Olea Europaea L.) Cultivars

Seven olive cultivars ‘Nabali’, ‘Rasiei’, ‘Nasuhi’, ‘Shami’, ‘Kudari’, ‘Surani’ and ‘Kaisi’ were used to investigate their ability for in vitro callus induction using nodal cuttings. To induce callus from the above mentioned seven olive cultivars, nodal cuttings were used as explants and placed either on gelled Olive Medium (OM) or laid over still liquid OM in the dark. Callus was induced from all olive cultivars both in gelled and liquid media. The callus was initiated and detected at three sites: the proximal ends of explants (most frequent site for all tested cultivars) in both gelled and liquid OM, at the bases of petioles (second most frequent site for all tested cultivars) in both gelled and liquid OM with better growth in liquid OM, and at the distal ends of explants (very rare occurrence) in liquid OM only. ‘Rasei’ showed the highest callus induction (19%) in gelled medium, while ’Nabali’ showed the highest callus induction (16%) in liquid medium. To find out the potential of callus growth, it was subcultured from small callus fragment every 3-4 weeks. ‘Kudari’ showed the maximum increase in callus weight (4.05 fold) on gelled medium. However, in liquid medium, 0.42 fold increase was recorded in the cultivar ‘Shami’