biologia plantarum

Biologia plantarum 59:11-17, 2015 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-014-0479-5

Effect of copper and zinc on the in vitro regeneration of Rauvolfia serpentina

N. Ahmad^1,*, A. A. Alatar², M. Faisal², M. I. Khan¹, N. Fatima¹, M. Anis¹, A. K. Hegazy^2,3

¹ Plant Biotechnology Laboratory, Department of Botany, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, India

² Department of Botany and Microbiology, College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

³ Department of Botany, Faculty of Sciences, Cairo University, Giza, Egypt

The present study exemplifies morphogenic roles played by copper and zinc during micropropagation of Rauvolfia serpentina, an important medicinal shrub. Incorporation of 20 μM CuSO₄ or 25 μM ZnSO₄ to a Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium with optimized concentrations of auxins and cytokinins induced a maximum number of shoots per explant (40.67 ± 1.76 and 45.47 ± 0.24, respectively). However, higher concentrations of both the micronutrients negatively affected the morphogenic potential. The pigment content of the regenerants increased up to the optimal concentrations of both metals and thereafter decreased, whereas the maximum proline content was at the highest concentrations used. In vitro rooting of healthy shoots was accomplished using 0.5 μM IBA in a half strength liquid MS medium with 8.20 ± 0.37 roots, and root length of 5.50 ± 0.14 cm per microshoot. The plants survived a hardening procedure and were successfully acclimatized to field conditions with 95 % survival.

Keywords: auxin; clonal propagation; cytokinin; ex vitro transfer; micronutrients; morphogenesis; nodal segments

Subjects: micropropagation; auxins; cytokinins; copper; zinc; carotenoids; chlorophyll; proline

Species: Rauvolfia serpentina

Received: November 7, 2013; Revised: June 18, 2014; Accepted: July 14, 2014; Published: January 1, 2015Show citation