Background:

Agave potatorum is an endemic species of ecological, cultural and economic importance. Despite its importance and its overexploited status, it is barely cultivated and its natural populations have been disappearing, so an alternative is propagation by plant tissue culture.

Questions:

Is it possible to regenerate new individuals from somatic structures? From which explant do more plantlets regenerate? What combination of plant growth regulators stimulates more bud formation?

Species studied:

Agave potatorum, seeds from Oaxaca, Mexico

Study site and dates:

Botanical Garden, Institute of Biology, UNAM, Mexico City, Mexico. Since 2020

Methods:

The explant culture of cotyledons, stems and leaves sections in modified MS medium was explored, one month with BAP (0-2 mg/L) combined with 2,4-D (0-0.5 mg/L). Subsequently in MS without plant growth regulators. The obtained plants with 3 or more roots underwent an acclimatization process.

Results:

The seeds' germination was achieved and at two months, the in vitro (56.04 %) and ex vitro (31.87 %) germination were obtained. At 10 months after the induction period, the total number of shoots and plantlets of all treatments was 228, most of them (206) were with BAP 1.5-2 mg/L with 2,4-D 0.5 mg/L promoted the regeneration of 8.1-12.5 shoots/explant of stem and leaf. More than 70 % of the plants survived in greenhouse after two months of culture.

Conclusions:

This investigation can contribute to the conservation of Agave potatorum, address climate change, conserve ecosystemic services, and strengthen the economy by using this and other endangered species sustainably.

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