Restoration of rooting competence in mature Faidherbia albida, a Sahelian leguminous tree, through serial root sucker micrografting

Faidherbia albida is an essential leguminous tree of arid areas of Africa which is widely used in agroforestry. This species naturally produces root suckers. Their morphogenetic ability has been used to initiate a rejuvenation/reinvigoration process in mature subjects. The proposed method contains two stages. The first stage generates the first ramets: our results have shown that suckers picked from root cuttings are more vigorous than explants taken directly from the crown of adult subjects. The second stage furthers the rejuvenation process through cycles of repeated micrografting onto juvenile rootstock, which have been grown in vitro. As early as the third cycle, a significant increase in reactivity is gained. This is determined by growth of the scion and the rooting competence of microcuttings severed from the scions after each micrografting cycle. At that point, the rooting competence is completely restored. So, this sequential method, (i) suckers from root cuttings, (ii) repeated micrografting, seems valid as a technique for the restoration of rooting competence in mature F. albida with a view to its cloning.