The aim of this work was to evaluate the in vitro potential of multiplication of seven blackberry cultivars: Brazos, Cherokee, Comanche, Ébano, Guarani, Tupy and Xavante. A commercial micropropagation protocol from Embrapa Clima Temperado was used. The explant desinfestation was carried out in solution of alcohol and sodium hypochlorite. The meristem culture was carried out in semi-solid MS medium with 1 mg L-1 BAP, 0.01 mg L-1 ANA and 0.1 mg L-1 AG3; the explants multiplication in MS medium with 0.8 mg L-1 BAP; and the rooting in ½MS medium with 0.5 mg L-1 ANA, always at 25±4ºC, 20 µE m-2 s-1 and 16 hours photoperiod. Sixty meristems of each cultivar were used, evaluating the multiplication rate and the level of contamination, vitrification and oxidation during the phases of in vitro establishment (60 days), multiplication (six subcultures of 40 days) and rooting (30 days). The estimated number of plants obtained per meristem was 16335 of 'Brazos', 24211 of 'Cherokee', 19778 of 'Comanche', 106550 of 'Ébano', 14275 of 'Guarani', 34022 of 'Tupy' and 24651 of 'Xavante'. The quantification of this in vitro variability response is important to plan the multiplication of the plants of each cultivar in commercial laboratories.
Rubus spp.; pathogen cleaning; micropropagation; plants production
