The micropropagation of temperate fruit trees may generate virus-free plants with the additional advantage of a shorter period of time compared to the traditional culture. Aiming to improve the in vitro propagation of blackberry and grapevine, different boron and zinc concentrations added to the culture medium were tested. The culture medium was constituted of DSD1 salts, added of 30 g L-1 sucrose and 7 g L-1 agar, and the pH adjusted to 6.4 before the sterilization at 121ºC and 1 atm per 20 minutes. The treatments consisted of blackberry plants cv. Tupy, the grapevine rootstock 'Kobber' and concentrations of boric acid (0; 1.0; 2.0, and 4.0 mg L-1) and zinc sulfate (0; 1.0; 2.0, and 4.0 mg L-1), mixed in all possible combinations. Nodal segments of in vitro cultivated plants were excised and inoculated in tubes with 15 mL culture medium. After that, the tubes were transferred to a growth room at 27 ± 1ºC, irradiance of 35 mol.m-2.s-1 and photoperiod of 16 hours. The experiment was arranged in a completely randomized design, using four replications with 12 plants each. After 70 days of in vitro cultivation it was verified that the best results for the micropropagation of blackberry cv. Tupy (Rubus sp.) were obtained in the absence of boric acid and zinc sulfate mixed in the DSD1culture medium. With 4.0 mg L-1 boric acid added to the culture medium higher number of leaves and length of roots of the grapevine rootstock 'Kobber' (Vitis sp.) was observed.
Rubus sp.; Vitis sp.; micropropagation; boric acid; zinc sulfate
