PLANT CELL BIOTECHNOLOGY AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY

Fig (Ficus carica L.) is a fruit tree with nutritional and medicinal properties. In Costa Rica, the fig production has increased, as a strategy for agricultural diverisfication; however, aware of the international problematic caused by the Fig Mosaic Virus (FMV), analysis were performed to the “Brown Turkey” fig variety, present in Costa Rica, obtaining a negative result for pathogenicity. Hence, it was considered necessary to have standardize protocols, which would allow microscopic and molecular diagnosis of foreign material from fig, in order to broaden the genetic diversity in the country. Within this context, the efficiency of applying diagnosis based on symptoms, Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) molecular trials with RT-PCR were assessed. Through these analyses it was possible to detect a 302 base pair fragment of RNA-1 from FMV in the “El Salvador”, “Pacayas” and “Guarinto” fig varieties. Cultivars from “Brown Turkey” and “Negro San Juan”, were used as a negative and positive control for the pathogen, respectively. From these trials, cytological and molecular differences were evidenced in the foreign varieties, when compared to the control; corroborating the characteristic symptoms of the virus and the positive response in the amplificationof the viral fragment. Therefore, the material cleansing was required, initiating with its in vitro establishment. Once the vitroplants presented an approximate size of 1.5 cm, they were exposed to thermotheraphy, at 38 ± 2°C for a 15 day period; then, the apical meristems, with an average size of 0.3mm were extracted. Finally, the plants obtained from this meristems were exposed to molecular analysis, which confirmed their viral clearance.