Published online by Cambridge University Press: 03 October 2008
The auxin-transport-inhibiting morphactin chlorflurenolmethylester (CFM; Methyl 2-chloro-9-hydroxyfluorene-9-carboxylate) breaks the dormancy of axillary buds in young coffee plants and produces orthotropic shoots. A concentration of CFM as low as 50 mg/litre induced an average of 24 orthotropic shoots per 6-month-old seedling. This approach could provide a fast and inexpensive method of vegetative propagation for raising disease-resistant cultivars if adult clones respond similarly to the seedlings used here and the treatment does not adversely affect the propagation of induced shoots.