Full Length Research Paper

Micropropagation of Sterculia urens Roxb., an endangered tree species from intact seedlings

Town Mohammad Hussain^{1, 2}*^, Thummala Chandrasekhar ² and Ghanta Rama Gopal²

¹Department of Horticulture, Hamelmalo Agricultural College, Keren, P.O.Box no: 397, Eritrea, North East Africa.

²Department of Botany, Sri Venkateswara University, Tirupati-517 502, Andhra Pradesh, India.

*Corresponding author. E-mail: md_hussain_2000@yahoo.com. Tel: 002917193290, Fax: 002911401589.

Abbreviations: AC, activated charcoal; AS, adenine sulphate; BA, benzyladenine; CH, casein hydrolysate; CM, coconut milk; GA_3, gibberellic acid; IAA, indole-3-acetic acid; IBA, indole-3-butyric acid; 2iP, isopentenyl adenine; MS, murashige and skoogs medium; NAA, naphthalene acetic acid; PVP, polyvinylpyrrolidone; TDZ, thidiazuron.

Accepted 19 December, 2007

An efficient and reproducible procedure for the large scale propagation of Sterculia urens is described. Direct shoot proliferation was induced in aseptic seed cultures of S. urens on MS medium (1962) supplemented with 5.0 μM thidiazuron + 1.5 μM GA₃ + 0.1% ascorbic acid. The highest number of shoots (14.0) was formed within 8 weeks of seed culture without root formation on MS medium. Proliferating shoot cultures were established by repeatedly sub culturing mother seedlings (stumps) on fresh medium (MS + 2.5 μM TDZ + 1.5 μM   GA₃ + 0.1% ascorbic acid) after excising all newly formed shoots. The shoot forming capacity of seeds was influenced by the cytokinin type and concentration in the medium. Roots formed on excised shoots when they were transferred to quarter strength MS medium containing 9.80 μM indole-3-butyric acid. Plantlets were finally transferred to the soil.

Key words: Intact seedlings, micropropagation, multiple shoots, sterculiaceae.