Velcheva, M., Department of Genetics, Agricultural University, Plovdiv, Bulgaria
Faltin, Z., Department of Fruit Tree Sciences, Agricultural Research Organization, Volcani Center, P.O. Box 6, Bet-Dagan, 50250, Israel
Vardi, A., Department of Fruit Tree Sciences, Agricultural Research Organization, Volcani Center, P.O. Box 6, Bet-Dagan, 50250, Israel
Eshdat, Y., Department of Fruit Tree Sciences, Agricultural Research Organization, Volcani Center, P.O. Box 6, Bet-Dagan, 50250, Israel
Perl, A., Department of Fruit Tree Sciences, Agricultural Research Organization, Volcani Center, P.O. Box 6, Bet-Dagan, 50250, Israel

A system for in vitro regeneration of Aloe arborescens was developed using young inflorescences as explants. Different phytohormone combinations of N-phenyl-N′-1,2,3-thiadiazol-5-yl urea (TDZ), benzyladenine (BA), 6-(γ,γ-dimethylallyl-amino)purine riboside (2iPR), zeatin ribozide (ZR), N-(2-chloro-4-pyridyl)-N′-phenylurea (CPPU) and kinetin (K), with or without ancymidol, were examined in order to induce plant regeneration. Efficient shoot regeneration was initiated on Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with BA or TDZ. MS medium enriched with 19.6, 22.2 μM BA and 3.92 μM ancymidol (MSBA5/1 medium), promoted organogenesis enabling 87.3% of the explants to regenerate 6.04∈±∈1.79 shoots/explant. Subsequent shoot elongation and plant regeneration were strongly affected by the medium composition used for shoot induction. Optimal elongation (three to four shoots per explant) was obtained when shoots, initiated on MSBA5/1 medium, were subsequently transferred onto MS containing only 4.4 μM BA. Rooting was performed on MS media lacking growth regulators. Histological analysis revealed that the initiated shoots originated from the receptacle tissue surrounding the residual vascular tissue of the flower buds. © Springer 2005.