Abstract

Lantana camara is a plant with numerous medicinal properties and belongs to Verbenaceae family. Too few studies on micropropagation of this plant exist in the literature. This study was designed and conducted to investigate the effective factors on in vitro shoot proliferation of L. camara. This experiment was conducted in Isfahan University of Technology, Isfahan, Iran. In this study, nodal segments of L. camara were used as explants and woody plant medium (WPM) as culture medium. The explants were placed in culture medium of WPM containing 6-benzyladenine (BA) and thidiazuron (TDZ) in various concentrations for shoot proliferation and MS medium containing different concentrations of indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) for rooting. After four weeks, different indices of shoot proliferation and rooting were investigated. The experiments’ data were analyzed by Statistical Analysis System (SAS) software and the means were compared using Duncan's multiple range test (DMRT) at 5% probability level. The results indicated that the highest shoot and internode length, fresh and dry weight and the maximum number of leaves were obtained in control treatment. The maximum number of shoots was observed in 8 mg/L BA and the highest fresh weight was in 4 mg/L BA. Cytokinins, particularly BA, in high concentrations cause apical dominance to be overcome through declining auxin effect, and proliferation was increased. Therefore, shoot and internode length was decreased with increasing BA concentration. The most number of roots was also obtained in treatment with 0.5 mg/l IAA. The increase in roots’ number occurs because of hydrolysis of foods and their transfer to the sprouts.

Key words: Nodal segments, shoot proliferation, thidiazuron, woody plant medium.