Full Length Research Paper

Thidiazuron induced micropropagation of Hypericum triquetrifolium Turra

Esin Akçam Oluk¹* and Serpil Orhan²

¹Ege University, Science Faculty, Biology Department, Bornova, 35100 İzmir, Turkey.

²Ege University, Engineering Faculty, Bioengineering Department, Bornova, 35100 İzmir, Turkey.

*Corresponding author. E-mail: esak_ol@yahoo.co.uk. Tel.:+9 0232 3884000. Fax:+9 0232 3881036. 

Abbreviations: TDZ, Diphenyl urea derived N-phenyl-N’-1, 2, 3-thiadiazol-5-ylurea (thidiazuron); IAA, Indole-3-acetic acid; BAP, 6-benzylaminopurine; MS, Murashige-Skoog.

Accepted 15 May, 2009

   Abstract

Hypericum genus is commonly used as a medicinal plant for its anti-depressant properties. Harvesting such medicinal plants from the nature is causing a loss of genetic diversity. Plants with very small seeds like Hypericum triquetrifolium Turra cannot be cultured by traditional methods, easily. In the present study, a rapid micropropagation protocol was developed for Hypericum triquetrifolium Turra. Native seeds, collected from Kaz Mountains in Egean region of Turkey were used as starting material.  Water-agar (89%) germinated six weeks old seedlings were placed in ten different medium. The most intensive shoot multiplication rate per explant was recorded at 5.95 on the MS medium supplemented with 1.25 mg/L Thidiazuron (TDZ) plus 0.5 mg/LIndole-3-acetic acid (IAA). Root development (5-6 per shoot) was obtained on Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with 1 mg/L IAA. After rooting in vitro, the plantlets morphologically similar to mother plants were easily acclimatized within a month and survived (93%) upon transfer to greenhouse conditions.

Key words: Hypericum triquetrifolium, micropropagation, medicinal plant, thidiazuron.