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Heat Treatment and Meristem Culture for the Production of Virus-Free Bananas. Lloyd A. Berg, Plant Pathologist, Tropical Research Division, Tela Railroad Company, La Lima, Honduras; Mario Bustamante, Senior Research Assistant, Tropical Research Division, Tela Railroad Company (a subsidiary of United Brands Company), La Lima, Honduras. Phytopathology 64:320-322. Accepted for publication 26 August 1973. DOI: 10.1094/Phyto-64-320.

Banana rhizomes were heat-treated at 35-43 C. Meristems from lateral buds which developed after 100 days of treatment were excised and grown on a modified Knudson’s medium to which naphthaleneacetic acid was added to induce root formation. Virus could not be detected in plants derived from meristems by inoculations of indicator plants, Chenopodium quinoa and C. amaranticolor. Localized or systemic symptoms were often induced when indicator plants were inoculated with leaf material from control plants in commercial plantations.