In vitro propagation of rare Georgian grape varieties (Vitis vinifera ssp. Sativa DC.) and wild grapevines (Vitis vinifera ssp. Sylvestris Gmel.) and their adaptation to the environment.

Georgia is one of the oldest wine producer countries which has a huge history of viticulture. It is known that Georgia has 525 native varieties (Vitis vinifera ssp. Sativa DC.), which start from the wild grape (Vitis vinifera ssp. sylvestris Gmel). The wild grapevine has an important role in the viticulture to nderstand the development of the plant, its biodiversity and genetics. Propagation of grapevines is mostly performed by woody cuttings, but in some cases it does not work efficiently. That is why in vitro methods are necessary to solve problems of propagation and get as a result virus-free plants, which are necessary for the conservation of a germplasm. Besides, some of the varieties are endangered and in-vitro rapid propagation is a useful tool to achieve the desired results. The idea of in-vitro micropropagation stands on the ability of totipotency and plasticity. Propagation can be done by various methods under aseptic conditions. In-vitro plant micropropagation is a main tool to get virus free plants, which are necessary for nurseries. In this research, several genotypes of grapevines - cultivated varieties and wild compartments are investigated. Explants for the micro propagation were collected from the Jighaura collection of the Scientific - Research Center of Agriculture. Explants were propagated by apical meristem, to get a true to type plants. They were cultured on the different mediums. The main aim was to find a suitable growing medium for explants, which were supplemented with the different concentrations of plant growth regulators. On the suitable mediums plants start to grow and complete the process of shoot proliferation, rhizogenesis, organogenesis and development. Plants were kept in the controlled phytotron. After achieving the desired size, they are moved to greenhouse for the adaptation to the ex-vitro environment. Tab. 6, Ref. 15.