Response of Cattleya sp. Orchid Planlet In vitro Selection Results Against Drought Stress with Polyethyleneglycol (PEG) 6000

Abstract

Orchid Cattleya sp. is famous for ornamental plants, known as the queen of flower. The water content is very much needed, so that drought conditions do not become a barrier in its cultivation. Cattleya sp. plantlets can be resistant to drought stress through in vitro culture selection with PEG 6000. The purpose of this study was to determine the proportion of live plantlets that were tolerant to drought stress and to analyze the of the plantlet Cattleya sp. that experienced drought stress after being selected with PEG 6000 included: visualization of plantlets, chlorophyll a, b, and total content and stomata index. This research was conducted in a completely randomized design consisting of 1 factor, namely PEG 6000 with 5 levels: 0%, 5%, 10%, 15% and 20% with 5 repetitions. The homogeneity of variance was tested using Levene's test at a 5% significance level, followed by One-Way ANOVA at a 5% significance level, then if the data showed a significant difference, it was followed by a Significant Difference Test at a 5% significance level. The results of this study showed that the proportion of live plantlets was 60% at a concentration of 20% PEG 6000. The Cattleya sp. plantlets a, b, total chlorophyll’s and the stomatal indekx all decrease in response to the increasing PEG 6000 concentration.