Production of Virus-Free Chrysanthemum (Chrysanthemum morifolium Ramat) by Tissue Culture Techniques

Almost all plants in their natural environment are commonly infected by viruses. These viral infections can cause devastating diseases and result in severe yield and economic losses, making viral diseases an important limiting factor for agricultural production and sustainable development. However, these losses can be effectively reduced through the productions and applications of virus-free plantlets. In vitro culture techniques are the most successful approaches for efficient eradication of various viruses from almost all the most economically important crops. Techniques for producing virus-free plantlets include meristem tip culture, somatic embryogenesis, chemotherapy, thermotherapy, electrotherapy, shoot tip cryotherapy, and micrografting. Among them, meristem tip culture is currently the most widely used. Here, we describe a detailed protocol for producing virus-free plantlets of Chrysanthemum morifolium Ramat using tissue culture techniques.