Micropropagation and acclimatization of <i>Bauhinia cheilantha</i> (an important medicinal plant)

Abstract

The objective of this study is to establish a micropropagation protocol for Bauhinia cheilantha. This was undertaken through an evaluation of 6-benzylaminopurine (BAP) effects, alone or in combination with a-napthaleneacetic acid (NAA), on the morphogenesis of different explants, taken from 20 day old seedlings grown in vitro. In the rooting, different auxins, indole-3-acetic acid (IAA), indole-3-butyric acid (IBA) and NAA were tested under the influence of activated charcoal. The nodal segments showed an organogenic capacity which is 2.4 times greater than the cotyledonary segment. The highest number of shoots (2.84) was obtained at 2.0 mgl^-1 BAP. The use of 0.5 mgl^-1 IAA, 1.0 mgl^-1 NAA or 0.25 mgl^-1 IBA gave the highest percentage of rooting (about 65.0%). Concerning the activated charcoal (AC), there was a beneficial effect in most of the analyzed characteristics at a concentration of 0.5 gl^-1. The culture tube, with forced ventilation during rooting, increased the percentage of seedling survival during the acclimatization in greenhouse. This finding reveals that it is possible to obtain in vitro culture of B. cheilantha using the segment nodal as a source of explants in woody plant medium (WPM) supplemented with BAP.

Key words: Bauhinia cheilantha, woody, in vitro culture, organogenesis, seedling node, activated charcoal.