Optimal culture conditions for the initial development of Ilex paraguariensis A.St.-Hil. explants

In the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, yerba mate (Ilex paraguariensis A. St.-Hil.) is an economically and culturally important species. Because of the difficulty in obtaining plantlets from seeds, micropropagation has emerged as an alternative that could increase production. This work aimed to evaluate the effect that treatment with 6-benzyladenine (BA), at concentrations of 2.2, 8.9, and 20 µM and associated with naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA, 0.5 µM), has on the in vitro growth and leaf emission of I. paraguariensis nodal segments cultivated in 0.5 X Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium or 0...