Cultivo in vitro del alcornoque

Vegetative plant propagation is mainly used in the operational line of Forest Tree Improvement Programs to capture all the genetic potential, including the non-additive component of the genetic variance. In the case of genus Quercus, it could be also used to avoid the problems derived from installation and yielding of seed orchards. The tissue culture based micropropagation arises as an alternative technique to solve the problems of space and time associated with the classical techniques of asexual propagation. This article reviews the work done with cork-oak in this field. Up to date there are few papers dealing with in vitro culture of Quercus suher L. Embryo culture has been tryed to determine the minimum requeriments of the species and its morphogenic potential. Plantlet regeneration has been obtained following axillary budding on nodal segments from juvenile and rejuvenated tissues, elongation and rooting of microcuttings. Main problems arise on transplanting soil the neoformed plants. Callus culture has been achieved from cotyledons and epicotyl segments from young seedlings. In booth cases also somatic embryogenesis has been reported. This fact opens a new way for micropropagating cork-oak, which is discussed.