Abstract

An efficient and economic protocol for rapid in vitro propagation using nodal explants obtained from 2 year old, field grown medicinal plants of Plumbago zeylanica L. belonging to the family Plumbaginaceae was successfully achieved from the nodal segments. Shoot development was maximum (95%) on Murashige and Skoog’s (MS) basal medium supplemented with 6- Benzyl amino purine (BAP) (2.0 mg/l), indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) (1.5 mg/l) and indole-3-butyric acid (IBA) (1.0 mg/l) with (19.56±0.04) mean number of shoots per explants and the maximum shoot length was found to be (4.98±0.87). Rooting of the differentiated shoots was achieved in MS medium with triple auxins combination of α- naphthalene acetic acid (NAA) (1.5 mg/l), IAA (1.5 mg/l) and IBA (2.0 mg/l) with (18.54±0.09) mean number of roots per shoots and the mean root length was found to be (7.63±0.83). Regenerated plantlets were successfully acclimated in the green house and after a hardening period of 4 weeks 100% transplantation success was achieved under the natural condition. The plantlets derived through in vitro propagation mimic the morphological characteristics of the donor plants taken for the present investigation. 

Key words: Plumbago zeylanica L., medicinal plants, rooting, in vitro propagation, nodal explants.

Abbreviation

BAP, 6- Benzyl amino purine, IAA, indole-3-acetic acid; IBA, indole-3-butyric acid; NAA,  α- naphthalene acetic acid; MS, Murashige and Skoog’s (1962) medium.