D. SUBHA, N. CHANDRALEGA AND N. GEETHA
Abstract
An efficient in vitro micropropagation of a valuable medicinal plant, Tanacetum parthenium L. was investigated. Nodal explants were cultured on MS medium fortified with different concentrations of BAP and KIN (0.5-2.0 mg/L) for shoot bud initiation. For multiple shoot bud induction, the regenerated shoot buds were further subcultured on different concentrations of BAP (0.5-2.0 mg/L) in combination with 0.5 mg/L NAA or 0.5 mg/L KIN. The highest frequency of multiple shoot bud regeneration (93.5%) with maximum number of shoots (18.60 shoots/ explant) and shoot elongation (7.23cm) was observed on 0.5 mg/L BAP in combination with 0.5 mg/L KIN. The regenerated shoots were cultured on full strength MS basal medium or half strength MS medium fortified with different concentrations of IBA (0.1-0.5 mg/ L) for rooting. Highest frequency of rooting was observed on half strength MS medium fortified with 0.2 mg/L IBA resulted in the highest frequency of roots (89.5%) and mean number of roots per shoot (8.87) with average root length (6.52 cm). Regenerated plantlets were successfully transferred into plastic cups containing soil and sand in the ratio of 2:1 with 90% survivability. Further, clonal fidelity of the in vitro raised plants was carried out using RAPD markers. The amplification products were monomorphic in micropropagated plants and similar to those of mother plant. No polymorphism was detected revealing the genetic uniformity of micropropagated plants.