Litchi (Litchi chinensis sonn.) ranks second after mango amongst the most important fruit crops cultivated worldwide. Litchi is a very valuable crop throughout the world because it is a table fruit and wines are also produced from it. The existing cultivars are highly polyploidy and heterozygous in nature. It is propagated through air layering and marcottage methods and storability is very low. Synthetic seeds can be stored for a long time and its genetic constitution could remain the same. For germplasm maintenance and clonal propagation, synthetic seeds can be used. Somatic embryogenesis has been reported from anther or embryogenic suspension culture in various species of litchi. Regeneration via organogenesis and somatic embryogenesis from zygotic embryos has also been reported in certain species. Developing a methodology for getting somatic embryogenesis with a high frequency from zygotic embryos which is available once in a year, would be particularly useful for genetic improvement of litchi. Cotyledonary stage somatic embryos developed from zygotic embryos were encapsulated in 2% alginate gel. The encapsulated somatic embryos (ESEs) germinated successfully on 0.7% agar medium containing 3% sucrose concentration in NN basal medium (half strength of major and minor salts) with 1 mg•l −1 of gibbrellic acid. Percentage germination and plantlet development for ESEs was higher than that of non encapsulated embryos (NSEs). In comparison to different hormones, gibberellic acid has a significant influence on the germination rate of ESEs after one week of dehydration was seen maximum at 9% sucrose and abscisic acid (1 mg•l −1 ) in half strength of major and minor salts in Nitsch and Nitsch medium resulting in extended storage up to 90 days without loss in germination potential and capability to regenerate into plantlets. Normally developed plantlets regenerated from ESEs were successfully adapted to soil to obtain a full grown plant.
Pterocarpus santalinus L.) is an endangered woody plant species of family Leguminosae with high medicinal value. According to some assessments (Arunakumara et 01. =005) trees of this species are available in Southern parts of Sri Lanka. Ilowever seed propagation of red sandalwood has some constraints like low germination of seeds, dormancy of seeds. fungal growth inside the seed coat, scarcity of plants, seasonal fruit bearing habit of trees (Kumarasinghe et al , 2003). Therefore in vitro shoot tip culture can be applied as an alternative propagation technique for conservation and multiplication of Red sandalwood plants in Sri Lanka.Shoot tips were excised from field grown and plant house grown plants. Experiments were carried out to identify proper surface steril ization procedures for explants and to identify proper establ ishment media for sterilized explants. NaOCI (10.15.20%) with different exposure times (10. 15.20 minutes) were tested and Murashige and Skoog (MS) and Mccown woody plant (WPM)) media were used as establishment media with and without activated charcoal (1 g/I). Completely Randomized Design (CRD) with twenty replicates was applied for the study.
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