In-vitro callus induction and shoot regeneration from leaf and nodal explants of Sterculia tragacantha Lindl.

Abstract

In this study, the effects of Naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA), 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) alone and in combination with Benzyladenine (BA) were investigated on callus production and shoot regeneration from leaf and nodal explants of S. tragacantha. Callus was induced by the various concentrations of NAA, 2,4-D and their separate combinations with BA from the leaf and nodal explants. With the leaf explants, 10.8 μM NAA + 4.4 μM BA induced the largest amount of callus; nodular/bud-like structures were observed on calli induced by 2,4- D/BA mixtures. Multiple shoots were developed from nodal explants cultured on media containing mixtures of NAA and BA, maximum number of shoots/explants (3.4 ± 0.36) occurring on Murashige and skoog's (MS) media supplemented with 2.7 μM NAA/8.8 μM BA mixture. These shoots when subcultured in the same medium reached mean height of 4.2 ± 0.56 cm after five (5) weeks. Only 28% of the regenerated shoots produced short thickened roots of mean length 2.1 ± 0.42 cm after 4 weeks of culture in MS medium containing 4.9 μM indole-3-butyric acid.