Effect of growth hormones on seed germination and in vitro culturing of Withania somnifera L. (Dunal).

摘要

Efficacy of various plant growth hormones i.e., GA, IAA, IBA and BA in overcoming the problem of poor seed germination in two cultivars (cv. Jawahar 20 and cv. Poshita) of Withania somnifera was studied. Maximum seed germination occurred when seeds of cv. Jawahar 20 were pre-soaked in a 100 ppm aquous solution of GA, either alone (79.16%) or in combination with 75 ppm BA (70.83%). Seeds of cv. Poshita were, however, not found responsive to these phytohormone treatments. This cultivar was found more suited for in vitro tissue culture studies. Callus cultures from leaf explants with high nitrate reductase (NR) activity (0.4-0.9 micro mol/gfw) and total protein content (3.75-4.75 mg/gfw) could be induced on a Murashige and Skoog medium fortified with 1.0 ppm NAA and 1.0 ppm Kinetin. These biochemical activity indices of Withania callus were found comparable to those of different parts of 6 month old field grown plants. Callus and nodal segment explants of Withania also exhibited high plantlet regeneration capacity in vitro.CAS Registry Numbers 1214-39-7 77-06-5 87-51-4 133-32-4 86-87-3 37256-45-4