Bagtas, Wil Lanie Tiara V. <br/><br/>
Comparative Assessment Of Sho0t Proliferation Of Tissue-Cultured Saba Banana (Musa Balbisiana) Using Commercially Available Agar Powder  [manuscript] / 
Bagtas, Wil Lanie Tiara V. 
 - Magalang, Pampanga :  Pampanga State Agricultural University,  May 2023. 
 - xiv, 56 leaves ;  28 cm + 1computer disc (4 3/4 inch) 
<br/><br/> ABSTRACT  Bagtas, Wil Lanie Tiara V, May 2023, COMPARATIVE ASSESSMENT  OF SHO0T PROLIFERATION OF TISSUE-CULTURED SABA BANANA  (Musa balbisiana) USING COMMERCIALLYAVAILABLE AGAR POWDER.  BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN BIOLOGY MAJOR IN MOLECULAR  BIOLOGY AND BIOTECHNOLOGY, Pampanga State Agricultural  University, Magalang, Pampanga.  Adviser: Evelyn B., Cajucom, MChem  Tissue Culture is cultivating plant cells, tissues, or organs on specially formulated  nutrient media. Under the proper condition, the whole plant can be regenerated from a  single tissue. Tissue Culture is an important technology for the rapid production of quality  planting materials.  Banana tissue culture is an essential technique for multiplying high-quality and  discase-free explants, The tissue culture of banana involves the collection of the suckers,  sterilization, media preparation, inoculation, incubation of the explant, and sub-culturing,  It also requires a culture medium that provides the proper nutrients and energy sources for  the survival of the cells. The laboratory-grade agar medium often used as a gelling agent  for plant tissue culture media can be quite expensive.  This study was, thus, conducted to assess the suitability of the commercially  available agar powder, which can be used as an alternative laboratory-grade agar. The study  was subjected to the comparison of agar powder on the shoot proliferation of tissue-  cultured saba banana, Three brands of commercially available agar powder were used, and  the study determined which of the three brands of commercially available agar powder  gave the best shoot proliferation of tissue-cultured saba banana based on the number of  calluses, number of shoots and height of shoots, and number of leaves/shoots developed  on the tissue-cultured saba.  Findings showed that shoot proliferation of the tissue-cultured saba in  commercially available agar powder and bar agar are statistically comparable. However,  the shoot proliferation of tissue-cultured saba in T3 gave the highest mean values in terms  of the number of calluses, number of shoots and height of shoots, and number of  leaves/shoots. In addition, other factors to be considered in using agar powder rather than  bar type are cheaper price, case of preparation and less time consumed because bar type  need to be crushed and dissolved properly for better consistency of the media.  Keywords: agar, saba banana, callus, gelling agent, proliferation, tissue culture.