High frequency induction of somatic embryos and plantlet regeneration from nodal explants of Hygrophila spinosa T. Anders

Abstract

An efficient protocol is described for the rapid in vitro plant regeneration of a medicinally important plant, Hygrophila spinosa through direct somatic embryogenesis from nodal explants excised from 4 week old aseptic seedlings. Somatic embryos differentiated directly from nodal explants on Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with 1.0 ìM 6- benzyladenine (BA) after 1 week of culture. The highest number (110.40 ± 3.55) of somatic embryos were recorded on MS medium supplemented with 1.0 ìM BA and 0.5 ìM NAA, growth regulator free half strength MS medium was found suitable for maturation and conversion of somatic embryos into complete plantlets. The well developed in vitro regenerated plantlets were successfully established in pots containing garden soil and grown in a
greenhouse with 85% survival rate. The regenerants present an appearance similar to the seedlings obtained from normal seeds. The described method can be successfully employed for large scale multiplication and long term in vitro conservation of H. spinosa.