ELIMINATION OF CVB ( ) FROM A RANGE OF CHRYSANTHEMUM VARIETIES BY APICAL MERISTEM CULTURE FOLLOWING ANTIVIRAL AGENT AND HEAT TREATMENTS

CVB elimination for retaining healthy protocols from infected chrysanthemum plant wasinvestigated through combined treatment of meristem culture with synthetic antiviral ribavirinor thermotherapy under conditions. The biological materials used for the experimentconstituted of six commercial varieties: Dewi Sartika, Saraswati, Yellow Fiji, White Puma,Yellow Puma and White Reagent. Tissue culture initiation was conducted through plantletestablishment using MS supplemented with IAA. Ribavirin was added in media with theconcentration of 40 mg/l on cv. Dewi Sartika, Saraswati and Yellow Fiji. Parallel with this step,heat treatment with different durations (1, 2, and 3 weeks) was also conducted on the plantletson White Puma, Yellow Puma and White Reagent. Meristem culture was done followingthe chemo- and thermotherapy. The experiment resumed the failure of single treatment ofmeristem culture in eliminating CVB from the infected chrysanthemum plantlets. Under heattreatment, percentage of virus-free plantlets increased along with the duration ofthermotherapy, though the survival rate of plantlets decreased in lengthened heat treatment.The best results regarding virus free plant percentage were obtained when meristem culture wasapplied following ribavirin or three weeks of heat treatment.