DEVELOPMENT OF AN AXILLARY BUD CULTURE TECHNIQUE FOR FIJI DISEASE VIRUS ELIMINATION IN SUGARCANE

A technique was developed for culture of axillary buds of sugarcane (S accharum spp. hybrid) cultivar NCo310. Successful establishment was ob tained following surface sterilisation (sodium hypochlorite 4% for 5 m in), decontamination (100 mg L(-1) carbenicillin, 25 mg L(-1) nystatin and 100 mg L(-1) benlate) and a double heat treatment applied firstly to setts (single-bud vegetative cuttings; 50 degrees C for 120 min) a nd then to the isolated axillary buds (61 degrees C for 30 min). The m ost suitable bud culture medium consisted of half-strength Murashige a nd Skoog nutrients plus 8 g L(-1) agar, 30 g L(-1) sucrose, 2 mg L(-1) naphthalene-acetic acid and 500 mg L(-1) malt extract. Roots and henc e plantlets could be developed for all cultures following incubation i n distilled water. Decontamination and heat treatment resulted in erad ication of pathogens from 94% and Fiji disease virus from 28% of the c ultures.