Preliminary studies on the establishment and multiplication of the anti-malarial plant – Cryptolepis sanguinolenta in vitro

2017

English

Conventional multiplication of Cryptolepis sanguinolenta is limited due to poor germination and rapid loss of seed viability. This study aimed to develop simple micro-propagation protocol for generating planting material using tissue culture techniques. Seed and nodal explants were sterilized with combinations of ethanol, sodium hypochlorite, and mercuric chloride and established either on Murashige and Skoog’s (MS) basal medium (A) or on MS supplemented with 0.01 mg/l kinetin (B). The rate of in vitro development (plant height, number of nodes and branches) were evaluated on MS medium supplemented with 0.1, 0.3, 0.4 and 0.5 mg/l kinetin. All sterilization procedures tested were effective for seed explants which showed 92, 91 and 100% clean cultures for A, B, and C treatment regimes. Nodal explants showed 100 and 88 percent contamination with treatments A and B but 100% clean nodal explants with treatment C. Seed explants with intact seed coat showed less than 5% development while the absence of seed coat resulted in greater than 60% embryo development within 2 weeks, both on hormone-free (A) and kinetin supplemented medium (B). Murashige and Skoog’s medium supplemented with 0.4 mg/l kinetin produced the highest number of nodes (unit for initiating cultures) and positive correlation (r = 0.564) was found between number of shoots and number of nodes. Except for root production, all other parameters (plant height, number of nodes and branches) did not differ significantly in medium supplemented with various kinetin concentrations.

Bissah, M. N.