An Efficient Invitro Approach for Direct and Callus Mediated Regeneration of Curcuma karnatakensis – An Endemic Plant of Karnataka

ABSTRACT An in vitro protocol for direct and callus mediated regeneration of complete plantlets of Curcuma karnatakensis was established. For direct regeneration rhizome buds were used as explants and culturing them on MS medium supplemented with 2 mgL−1 6-Benzyladenine (BA) resulted with an average of 4.00 ± 0.57 shoots per explant. Callus induction and multiplication study revealed that the percentage of callus induction was better in rhizome explants (68% explants induced callus within 30 d of inoculation) compared to shoot base explants (54% explants induced in 60 d) on MS medium supplemented with 2 mgL−1 2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic acid. Rhizome derived calli were used to induce organogenic callus on medium with higher concentration of α-Naphthalene acetic acid (5 mgL−1) and further transferred to regeneration medium containing 0.5 mgL−1 NAA and 4mgL−1 BA which produced 5.33 ± 0.66 shoots per explant in 8 weeks of culture. In vitro regenerated plants were successfully acclimatized to greenhouse conditions with a survival rate of 85% and exhibited normal phenotypes.