In vitro Propagation of Dorcoceras brunneum C.Puglisi, An Endangered Plant of Thailand

Abstract

This research presented a propagation protocol for Dorcoceras brunneum C.Puglisi, which is an endangered plant of Thailand, using plant tissue culture technique. The 2^nd and 3^rd leaves, 3.5 – 4 cm long and 1.5 – 2 cm wide, were cut from shoots of 16-week-old axenic shoots and were chosen as explant material. Then, only middle and basal parts of them were cut to 0.5 x 0.5 cm². The explants were cultured on Murashige & Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with 0 – 1 mg/L N⁶-benzyladenine (BA) and 0 – 0.5 mg/L 1-napthaleneacetic acid (NAA) for 16 weeks. The results showed that culturing the middle part of leaf onto MS medium augmented with 1 mg/L BA and 0.1 mg/L NAA produced the highest number of new shoots (17.5 shoots/explant). Bunches of regenerated shoots from this medium were separated into a single shoot. The single shoot at the height of 1 cm was cultured onto half-strength (½MS) or full-strength MS medium with or without supplementation of 2 g/L activated charcoal (AC) for root induction. After culturing shoots on these media for 8 weeks, ½MS medium supplemented with AC resulted in the best root regeneration (new roots number 15.6 roots/shoot, new root length 2.1 cm). The data obtaining from this study will be helpful for propagation and conservation of D. brunneum, which may provide as another way for maintaining diversity of plant in Thailand.