In vitro regeneration of Calophyllum brasiliense Cambess: A valuable medicinal tree

Abstract

Calophyllum brasiliense (Calophyllaceae) is a medicinal tree known mainly for producing calanolides, secondary metabolites against HIV^-1 reverse transcriptase. This wild plant is listed as threatened and despite its outstanding medicinal value, no studies have been conducted on its propagation or preservation. This study standardized a procedure for the micropropagation of C. brasiliense with nodal segments from in vitro seedlings. The in vitro seed germination was 48.6%. The nodal explants displayed a high percentage of shoot induction (77.5%), shoots per segment (6.9), nodes per shoot (3.8), leaves per shoot (8.0) and shoot length (4.2 cm) when 0.5 mg L^-1 indole-3-butyric acid plus 0.1 mg L^-1 thidiazuron were used. Furthermore, maximum shoot rooting (63.5%) and root length (2.2 cm) were recovered using 1.0 mg L^-1 indole-3-acetic acid. More than three-quarters of the acclimatized plants (77.5%) grew successfully in pots. Thus, this study developed an in vitro propagation protocol for C. brasiliense that can be used as a potential resource for restoring wild populations or performing phytopharmacological studies.

Key words: Seed germination, plant growth regulators, micropropagation, nodal segments, medicinal plants.