Full Length Research Paper

Micropropagation of Plumbago zeylanica L.

Iyyakkannu Sivanesan¹ and Byoung Ryong Jeong^{1, 2}*

¹Department of Horticulture, Division of Applied Life Science (BK21 Program), Graduate School, Gyeongsang National University, Jinju, Korea 660-701.

²Institute of Agriculture and Life Science, Gyeongsang National University, Jinju, Korea 660-701.

*Corresponding author. E-mail: brjeong@gnu.ac.kr. Tel.: +82-55-751-5489.

Fax: +82-55-757-7542.

Accepted 9 June, 2009

In vitro propagation of Plumbago zeylanica was investigated to develop reliable protocols for direct and indirect shoot regeneration. Axillary shoot multiplication, callus induction and shoot regeneration from callus culture was obtained on Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with different concentrations and combinations of plant growth regulators. A maximum number of shoots (38 ± 1.3 per explant) was obtained from nodal explants when cultured on MS liquid medium supplemented with 1.0 mg·L^-1 BAP, 0.5 mg·L^-1 IBA and 2.0 mg·L^-1 adenine sulfate. The highest percentage of callus induction was obtained when stem explants cultured on MS medium supplemented with 2.0 mg·L^-1 BAP and 1.5 mg·L^-1 IAA. The greatest percentage of shoot induction (100%) with a mean of 34.2 shoots obtained from callus was cultured on MS medium supplemented with 0.75 mg·L^-1 BAP, 1.0 mg·L^-1 IAA, NAA and adenine sulfate each. Regenerated shoots were rooted best on half-strength MS medium containing 0.5 mg·L^-1 NAA and 3% (w/v) sucrose. The regenerated plantlets were acclimatized in the culture room and successfully transferred in soil.

Key words: Adenine sulfate, callus proliferation, direct regeneration, liquid culture, Plumbago zeylanica, shoot multiplication.