Optimizing the In vitro culture condition for grapevine explants is considered as the first step to apply biotechnology in breeding and producing pathogene free plants. This research was carried out during years 2002 and 2003 on two popular Iranian grape cultivars, 'Bidaneh Sefid' and 'Shahroodi' at the Department of Horticulture, Faculty of Agriculture, Tehran University. A first experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of explant collection date (during summer), medium kind (MS, 1/2MS, WPM) and kind of explants on number of shoots, length of shoot, leaf quality and size of callus during the estabishment stage. Explants from basal and middle parts of shoots collected early September and cultured on MS medium produced the most desirable results. In proliferation stage, the effects of BA and IBA at different concentrations in MS medium were investigated on number, length and quality of produced shoots. Eventually, IBA at 1 mgL-1 induced best results for proliferation of the two cvs. 'Bidane Sefid', and 'Shahroodi'.To determine the appropriate Auxin concentration at rooting stage, the explants were cultured in 1/2MS medium with different IBA concentrations. Rooting was best in media without and with 0.05 mgL-1 IBA. Acclimatization step was carried out by transferring plantlets to greenhouse, using a growing medium of perlite and peat in proporation of 1:1. Plants were fertigated using a diluted nutrient of MS medium. surviving plants were evaluated after one month, in which it was found that 85% of 'Bidaneh Sefid' and 80% of 'Shahroodi' had adapted to greenhouse conditions. Finally, on the basis of these results, a secound experiment was conducted to study the meristem culture in MS medium with different BA and IBA concentrations. The best result was obtained with 0.5 mgL-1 BA in cv. 'Bidane Sefid' and 1 mg/L in cv. 'Shahroodi'.
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