The use of tissue culture methods for producing resistant material of Aesculus hippocastanum : a literature study

Abstract: The horse chestnut Aesculus hippocastanum is a European species of broadleaf trees classified as vulnerable. The species is subjected to many pathogens and pests threatening its survival. Resistance to some pathogens of horse chestnut has been investigated and tissue culture methods such as somatic embryogenesis have been successful. Several tissue culture methods exist to produce plantlets in vitro by different micropropagation techniques such as somatic embryogenesis and meristem culture. Somatic embryogenesis has been used for propagation of A. hippocastanum in the past. There have also been studies made for producing resistance in A. hippocastanum. Several tissue-culture methods have been used for the preservation and promotion of different plant species and they could possibly be eventual approaches for preserving the horse chestnut and produce resistant material. It is concluded in this paper that tissue culture techniques might be of possible use to produce resistant individuals of A. hippocastanum, but that it is hard to know for certain, since previous studies for promotion of resistance by tissue culture have been made on different species.