Micropropagation of and Other Cacti Species Through Axillary Shoot Proliferation: A Comprehensive Review.

Cacti are one of the most significant and diversified groups of angiosperms, distributed and cultivated globally, mostly in semi-arid, arid, and the Mediterranean climate regions. Conventionally, they are propagated by seeds or through vegetative propagation rooted offshoots or grafting. However, these multiplication procedures remain insufficient for mass propagation. culture techniques are utilized to mass propagate endangered and commercial cacti species. These include somatic embryogenesis and plant regeneration through indirect or direct organogenesis. The latter is a promising tool for commercial clonal propagation of high-value species and has been successfully implemented for several species, such as , and . However, its success depends on explant type, basal nutrient formulation of culture medium, and types and concentrations of plant growth regulators. This study aimed to assess the potential of propagation methods applied to cacti species and discuss the different factors affecting the success of these methods. This study has also highlighted the insufficient work on species for mass propagation through axillary buds' proliferation. The development of an efficient micropropagation protocol is thus needed to meet the supply of increasing demand of species for human consumption as fruit, animal feed, and ecological restoration in semi-arid and arid zones.