Abstract
Rapid clonal multiplication of Aegle marmelos (L.) Corr. (Rutaceae), a medicinal tree, was achieved by enhanced axillary bud proliferation in young single-node segments of a 25-year-old tree cultured in Murashige and Skoog (MS) nutrient medium. Bud break was dependent on cytokinin supply, but the synergistic combination of 2.5 mg l–1 6-benzylaminopurine (BAP) and 1.0 mg l–1 indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) induced the formation of 12.1 shoots of up to 5.2 cm length in 48% of the explants after 7 weeks of culture. Explants of in-vitro-grown shoots – node, whole leaf, shoot tip and internode – were subcultured in the presence of 0.05–2.5 mg l–1 BAP to produce 11.3, 18.4, 5.3 and 3.2 shoots and shoot buds at a 100%, 70%, 95% and 40% rate respectively, in 7 weeks. Different shoot nodes and leaves were equally regenerative and adventitious organogenesis in the latter was confined to cut petiolar ends. Nodal explants responded most favourably at low BAP (0.05–0.1 mg l–1) and produced uniform (3.8–5.3 cm) shoots facilitating their simultaneous harvest for rooting. Repeated subculturing through five cycles of nodes and leaves of shoot cultures enabled continuous production of healthy callus-free shoots without any sign of decline. Shoot cuttings (3.0–5.2 cm) were best rooted in half-strength MS medium with 0.5 mg l–1 IAA (70%) or 10.0 mg l–1 indole-3-butyric acid (90%). Eighty-eight percent of the rooted plants were established in polybags after hardening.
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Received: 4 April 1996 / Revision received: 8 September 1997 / Accepted: 20 September 1997
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Ajithkumar, D., Seeni, S. Rapid clonal multiplication through in vitro axillary shoot proliferation of Aegle marmelos (L.) Corr., a medicinal tree. Plant Cell Reports 17, 422–426 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1007/s002990050418
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s002990050418