MICROPROPAGATION OF THE MEDICINAL PLANT PLUMBAGO ZEYLANICA LINN

The micropropagation studies established for the medicinal plant, Plumbago zeylanica exhibited the following results: Direct shooting of nodal explant was more prominent in all most all combinations and concentrations of the growth regulators, BAP, 2, 4-D and IBA in the basal medium. The high amount of nodal explant (85.33%) produced direct shoots in the basal medium containing BAP and IBA at 4.0 and 3.0mg/i respectively. Inclusion of IAA along with BAP at 5.0mg/I each promoted considerably the multiple shoot induction (87%) after subculturing the in vitro derived shoots. The microshoots significantly produced roots in the MS basal medium enriched with the auxin, IAA alone at 1.0mg/1. Regenerated plantlets were showed better survival (86%) under greenhouse condition in the hardening medium composed by decomposed coir waste, perlite, and compost in the ratio of 1:1: 1 by volume.