Plant Tissue Cult. 4(2), 69-75, 1994

Mass Propagation of Rauvolfia serpentina by in vitro Shoot Tip Culture

Shyamal K. Roy, M.Z. Hossain and M.S. Islam

Department of Botany, Jahangirnagar University, Savar, Dhaka, Bangladesh

Key words: Rauvolfia sepentina, In vitro culture, Mass propagation

Abastract

Rauvolfia serpentina (Fam. Apocynaceae) is an important medicinal herb. Mass scale collection of the plant from natural habitats is leading to a depletion of plant resources. For the conservation of this valuable genotype, we established a protocol for its mass propagation. Shoot tips and lateral buds from the field grown plants were used as explants. When the explants were cultured on MS medium with 1.5 mg/1 BAP + 0.5 mg/1 NAA, multiple shoot buds were formed. Subculture in the same nutrient medium gave higher number of shoots. When the regenerated shoots were excised and subcultured individually in the same nutrient medium they also produced multiple shoots, continuing to proliferate through ten subcultures with an average of 25 shoots per transfer. For rooting, the shoots were excised from the culture flask and implanted individually on root induction medium consisting of half strength MS salts supplemented with 1.0 mg/1 each of IBA and IAA. Within three weeks of transfer, 100% rooting was achieved on this medium. They were transferred to a tray containing soil and compost and covered by polyethylene sheets. After two weeks they were transferred to the open field where 95% of the plantlets survived. The growth of the plants in the field was quite satisfactory in root weight per regenerated one-year-old plants.

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