ABSTRACT
The introduction of meristem culture resulted in the production of virus-free plants (Pillae and Hildebrandt, 1968) and Xanthomonas-free plants (Hamdorf, 1976; Theiler, 1977; Reuther, 1983). Numerous plants could be produced from meristem tip culture by cloning, and this also facilitated the production of culture-virus-indexed (CVI) plants without the need for heat treatment (Cassells, 1982, 1986, 1988).
