The genetic improvement of pyrethrum (Chrisanthemum Cinerariaefolium L.): A biotechnological approach

Pyrethrum (Chrisanthemum cinerariaefolium L. = Tanacetum cineariaefolium (Trev.) Schultz-Bip.) is a perennial herbaceous plant belonging to the family Asteraceae, native to Albania and the area of former Yugoslavia. Pyrethrum is the only species in the genus Tanacetum having an agronomic importance, although the genus consists of several species producing similar types of bioactive metabolites. The species is grown in order to obtain the insecticidal compounds collectively termed pyrethrins, which are found primarily in the flower head. Pyrethrum may be easily propagated by seeds, vegetative splits, stem cuttings (rooted or not under mist), and tissue culture. The first attempts to introduce its cultivation into the semi-arid Mediterranean environments have brought to satisfactory results, and the species has shown a good response in terms of biomass and flowers yield, even when technical inputs were applied in a reduced amount. Much work must still be done, however, in order to set a properly detailed management protocol for the genetic improvement of the species by means of biotechnology. In this work we discuss the first results of a specific experimental activity aimed to point out a micropropagation protocol for Pyrethrum, with the purpose to optimize the in vitro culture conditions, using explants sources as tissue donors for protoplast isolation and setting preliminary experiments in protoplast fusion methods to improve the flowers yield per plant and to increase the pyrethrins level.