Abstract

Biological activity of various extracts from calli grown in presence of different growth hormones and plantlets obtained from micropropagation was observed in laboratory experiment by using Triticum aestivum, Sorghum vulgare, Arachis hypogea, Glycine max, Cajanus cajan, and Cicer arietinum as bioassay materials. The experiment was conducted in sterilized petri dishes for five days at an average temperature of 28°C. The effect of aqueous extracts of different concentrations was compared to distilled water (control). The aqueous extracts of all the samples caused both stimulatory and inhibitory effect on germination, root and shoot elongation. Cold and hot water extracts of calli propagated on 2,4-D singly, combination of 2,4-D with IBA and 2,4-D with GA resulted in significant inhibition for germination of C. cajan and C. arietinum. Biological activities of the extracts were further examined by employing Allium cepa model in which cytogenetically effects of extracts were investigated. No genotoxicity was observed.

Key words: Stevia rebaudiana (Bertoni), callus, micropropagation, germination, root length.

Abbreviation

IAA, Indole-3- acetic acid; IBA, indole-3-butyric acid; GA, gibberellic acid; 2,4-D, 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid; HW, hot water; CW, cold water