L. (Plumbaginaceae), is a medicinal shrub commercially exploited for its naphthoquinone principle, plumbagin, extracted from the roots especially for treating skin disorders. As the plant is exploited from the wild without being replenished, conservation of the species becomes inevitable. Synthetic seeds would provide for effective conservation, germplasm exchange and distribution of this species. A reliable protocol for synthetic seed production in has been developed encapsulating the axillary buds. The axillary buds from cultures established and multiplied using the nodal explants in Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with Benzyl Adenine (BA) 1.5 mg/L and Indole 3-Acetic acid 1.0 mg/L, were used for synseed production. The plantlet conversion efficiency was the highest in synthetic seeds developed with sodium alginate 2.5% in modified MS with 0.4 M sucrose and CaCl 100 mM. This combination gave the earliest bud initiation (9.19 ± 0.39 days) and maximum number of shoots per explant (2.31 ± 0.16 shoots). Microshoots from the culture, when inoculated on to MS medium supplemented with Naphthalene Acetic Acid 1.0 mg/L gave the best rooting response with 10.67 ± 0.94 roots per plant and 5.42 ± 0.29 cm root length. This is the first report of synthetic seed production in using axillary buds as explant.

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In vitro axillary shoot proliferation was achieved from single-node explants of Indigofera tinctoria on a welldefined medium, Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with 1.0 mg l −1 N 6 -benzyl adenine (BA) and 0.1 mg l −1 indole-3-acetic acid. Axillary shoot meristems from cultures derived from up to three subcultures were used in the encapsulation-dehydration technique. Preconditioned, calcium alginate-encapsulated, and precultured axillary shoot meristems were subjected to different lengths of desiccation in a laminar flow cabinet. Maximum survival and regeneration rates of 56.7% and 62.2%, respectively, were obtained in half-strength (half the macro-and micronutrients and full-strength vitamins) MS medium supplemented with 0.5 mg l −1 gibberellic acid and 0.2 mg l −1 BA after 4 h of desiccation, during which the moisture content was reduced to 16.0%. According to the analysis of six random amplified polymorphic DNA markers, plantlets derived from cultures initiated with cryopreserved plant material were genetically identical to those derived from nonfrozen (control) tissues.

Butterfly pea (Clitoria ternatea L.), a common tropical garden climber with attractive blue or white flowers, has earned reputation as a medicinal plant as its roots are reported to be good "brain tonic" and antidote to snake poison. In an attempt to cryopreserve its valuable germplasm, somatic embryos could be induced from leaf derived callus developed in MS (1962) medium supplemented with 0.5 mg l Ϫ1 2,4-dicholorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) and 0.1 mg l Ϫ1 benzyl adenine (BA) and subsequent subculture to the same medium devoid of 2,4-D but having a higher level of BA (1.0 mg l Ϫ1 ). Embryos could be germinated and plantlets were produced with intact shoot and root in MS medium devoid of hormones or with gibberellic acid (GA) (0.1 to 1.0 mg l Ϫ1 ). When germinated, preconditioned and encapsulated embryos,

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