Meristem culture is a quite efficient method for the eradication of Potato Virus Y (PVY) from calibrachoa ‘Pampa Salmon INTA’

Calibrachoa, an ornamental native plant from South America, is propagated by stem cuttings, and vegetative propagation causes frequent occurrence of viral diseases. The purpose of this paper was to use a cloning technique for calibrachoa “Pampa Salmon INTA”, like meristem culture, to generate Potato virus Y free plants, a virus that usually infects this cultivar. Cloning plants by using the apical meristems (0.2–0.5 mm long) were cultured in Murashige and Skoog (½ concentration) medium supplemented with 0.01 mg. L^-1 6-benzyladenine. Seventy-four percent (74%) of regenerated plants were virus-free through reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction analysis. Finally, meristem culture is a quite efficient method to generate virus free plants, so this is the first report regarding a cloning method of viral free plants of calibrachoa.