In Vitro Propagation of Wetland Medicinal Plant Lythrum salicaria L.

Abstract

The aim of this experiment is to develop a protocol to establish the in vitro propagation potential of Lythrum salicaria L (purple loosestrife). Seeds of L. salicaria were germinated and grown in Murashige Skoog (MS) medium for 30 days. At the end of 30 days, shoot tips of L. salicaria were cultured on MS medium supplemented with different combinations and concentrations of 6-benzylaminopurine (BAP; 1, 2 and 3 mg/L) and 1-naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA; 0, 0.1 and 0.5 mg/L). Regenerated shoots were transferred to MS supplemented with varying concentrations of different auxins: NAA (0.5 and 1 mg/L) and indole-3-butyric acid (IBA; 0.5 and 1.0 mg/L) for rooting. Among the cytokinins investigated, BAP indicated the best response to initiate shoot elongation and multiple shoot formation alone. The highest number of shoot per explant (37±3.38) was obtained in MS medium with 1 mg/L BAP. Although, the highest shoot length (3.1 cm ± 0.48) was found on medium with 1 mg/L BAP+0.5 mg/L NAA, there were no statistically differences among all types of medium. Percentage of rooting, shoot length and root length were altered significantly with different concentrations of NAA and IBA. Thus, shoot length (9.5 cm±0.46), root length (4.1 cm±0.13) and the percentage of rooting (100%) increased significantly with a concentration of 1 mg/L NAA. It was concluded that MS medium with 1 mg/L NAA has been superior for root development compared to other hormone concentrations.