&amp;lt;i&amp;gt;In Vitro&amp;lt;/i&amp;gt; Propagation of Endangered Orchid, &amp;lt;i&amp;gt;Vanda pumila&amp;lt;/i&amp;gt; Hook.f. through Protocorms Culture

Shreeti Pradhan,Bijaya Pant,Sabitri Maharjan,Bir Bahadur Thapa

doi:10.4236/ajps.2019.107087

Abstract

The Vanda pumila is a monopodial orchid with beautiful flowers that are native to Thailand but now found across South Asia. The immature seeds of Vanda pumila were used for in vitro culture and then the protocorms developed were used as explants for seedling development and mass propagation. Protocorms were cultured on 1/2 MS (Murashige and Skoog, 1962) medium fortified separately with Kinetin (Kn), 6-Benzyl amino purine (BAP) and Gibberellic Acid (GA3) each in different concentrations as (0.5 mg/L, 1.0 mg/L and 2.0 mg/L) well as each on each concentrations of each medium supplemented with 5% and 10% coconut water (CW) respectively. The greatest number of shoots (9.50 ± 0.29 shoots per culture) was developed on 1/2 MS medium fortified with 1.0 mg/L Kn plus 10% CW and the longest shoots (0.78 ± 0.07 cm per culture) developed on 1/2 MS medium fortified with 2.0 mg/L BAP plus 10% CW. The shoots derived from protocorms were then developed on 1/2 MS medium fortified with three different rooting hormones viz. Indole-3-acetic acid (IAA), Indole-3-butyric acid (IBA) and α-Naphthalene acetic acid (NAA), each in four concentrations (0.5 mg/L, 1.0 mg/L, 1.5 mg/L and 2.0 mg/L) as well as 1.0 mg/L of each hormone supplemented with 10% CW. The 1/2 MS medium fortified with 0.5 mg/L IAA was found to be the most effective condition for the development of maximum number of root (5 ± 0.0 roots per culture) and root length (0.93 ± 0.07 cm). Hence, the present study could be useful for standardizing the protocol for mass propagation of the endangered orchid V. pumila.

Highlights

Orchids are an immensely beautiful group of plants with extraordinary variety
Protocorms were cultured on 1/2 MS (Murashige and Skoog, 1962) medium fortified separately with Kinetin (Kn), 6-Benzyl amino purine (BAP) and Gibberellic Acid (GA3) each in different concentrations as (0.5 mg/L, 1.0 mg/L and 2.0 mg/L) well as each on each concentrations of each medium supplemented with 5% and 10% coconut water (CW) respectively
The shoots derived from protocorms were developed on 1/2 MS medium fortified with three different rooting hormones viz. Indole-3-acetic acid (IAA), Indole-3-butyric acid (IBA) and α-Naphthalene acetic acid (NAA), each in four concentrations (0.5 mg/L, 1.0 mg/L, 1.5 mg/L and 2.0 mg/L) as well as 1.0 mg/L of each hormone supplemented with 10% CW

Summary

Introduction

Orchids are an immensely beautiful group of plants with extraordinary variety. The colour of the flowers of these members of Orchidaceae family is undoubtly their greatest charm. As few orchid flowers are pollinated in nature, the few seed pods are formed and those seeds that are produced are unlikely to germinate [1]. Orchid seeds require specific mycorrhizal fungal associations to germinate, so less than 1% do that [2]. V. pumila, which is closely related to V. cristata, is commonly known as “The Dwarf Vanda”. This orchid species is found in North East India, Nepal, Myanmar, China, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam at the elevation of 1200 - 2300 m [5]. The leaves of Vanda teres and Vanda cristata are used to treat fever [10]. Vanda cristata has anti-cancer property [11]

Methods

Results

Conclusion