Authors: Ponnusamy Baskaran Satendra Singh Johannes Van Staden
Publish Date: 2013/04/17
Volume: 114, Issue: 2, Pages: 259-267
Abstract
Drimia robusta is a threatened traditional medicinal plant extensively used in South Africa Rapid in vitro mass propagation of the species was developed for commercial cultivation from leaf explants using various concentrations and combinations of plant growth regulators and organic elicitors The highest number of regenerated shoots per explant 146 ± 054 was obtained on Murashige and Skoog MS medium supplemented with a combination of 227 μM thidiazuron TDZ 222 μM benzyladenine BA and 20 μM glutamine Adventitious shoots were rooted and the plantlets were successfully acclimatized 100 in a vermiculitesoil mixture 11 v/v in the greenhouse Proscillaridin A PsA content and the antibacterial activity of in vitro and ex vitro regenerated plants were evaluated in different tissues in comparison to naturallygrown plants The highest content of PsA 1968 μg mg−1 DW was recorded in roots of ex vitro plants which were grown on MS medium containing 227 μM TDZ 222 μM BA and 100 mg l−1 casein hydrolysate In vitro regenerated plants grown on MS medium containing 227 μM TDZ 222 μM BA and 508 μM MBZ gave high antibacterial activity MIC of 0156 mg ml−1 against both Grampositive and Gramnegative bacteria Using this protocol the regenerated plants can be used in traditional medicine as an alternative to naturally collected plants
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