In vitro propagation of a high value medicinal plant: Asparagus racemosus Willd.

Abstract

Asparagus racemosus Willd. is an important medicinal plant of tropical and subtropical India. Its medicinal usage has been reported in the Indian and British Pharmacopoeias and in traditional systems of medicine such as Ayurveda, Unani, and Siddha. The multiple uses of this species have increased its commercial demand, resulting in over-exploitation. Because of destructive harvesting, the natural population of A. racemosus is rapidly disappearing, and it is recognized as 'vulnerable' (Warner et al., Some important medicinal plants of the Western Ghats, India: a profile. International Development Research Centre, Artstock, New Delhi, India, 15 pp, 2001). The development of an efficient micropropagation protocol will play a significant role in meeting the requirements for commercial cultivation, thereby conserving the species in its natural habitat. In the present study, in vitro shoot proliferation was obtained by culturing single node segments in Murashige and Skoog's (MS) medium supplemented with 3.69 µM 2-isopentyl adenine and 3% sucrose with a multiplication rate of 3.5. For proper root formation, the in vitro-formed shoot clusters were cultured on half strength (major salts reduced to half) MS medium with 1.61 µM 1-naphthalene acetic acid, 0.46 µM kinetin, 98.91 µM adenine sulfate, 500 mg/l malt extract, 198.25 µM phloroglucinol, and 3% sucrose. On this medium, 85% rooting was observed within 20 d. Following a simple hardening procedure involving sequential transfer of plants to a greenhouse, polyhouse, and shade net, the tissue-cultured plants were transferred to the field where the survival rate was 100%.

Regeneration of Asparagus officinalis L. Through Embryogenic Callus

“…The rooting frequency increased gradually with the increase in the culture incubation period. It is a common practice to transfer shoots from a high strength media to less concentrated solutions to induce rooting (Bopana and Saxena 2008). In many species such as Dendrocalamus longispathus (Saxena and Bhojwani 1993), Adhatoda vaisca (Azad et al 2003), Phellodendron amurense (Yang et al 2011, Azad et al 2005a, and Curcuma caesia rooting frequency was higher when shoots were rooted on low strength MS.…”

In vitro propagation of spine gourd (Momordica dioica Roxb.) and assessment of genetic fidelity of micropropagated plants using RAPD analysis

“…Callus cultures, however, carries the risk of somaclonal variations which can seriously limit the broader utility of micropropagation systems. On the other hand, axillary bud proliferation method ensures clonal uniformity among the regenerants and, therefore, can subvert the limitations arising from callus cultures and organogenesis (Bopana and Saxena 2008). Any study on assessment of genetic fidelity of micropropagated spine gourd plants is not available.…”

Plant growth regulators optimization for in vitro cultivation of the orchid Guarianthe skinneri (Bateman) Dressier & W.E.Higgins

“…The development of an efficient micropropagation protocol can play a significant role in the commercial cultivation of vulnerable plant species, thereby conserving them in their natural habitat (Amoo et al 2009). Encouraging results have been obtained with other species recognized as vulnerable using micropropagation (Bopana & Saxena 2008). In micropropagation, growth regulators are very important.…”