Abstract
Handroanthus heptaphyllus (Vell.) Mattos (Bignoniaceae), a tropical forest tree, is a source of wood suitable for the manufacture of fine furniture and chemical compounds with medicinal and insecticidal properties. Poor seed viability of this species limits the conventional propagation practice. In vitro germination of seeds was achieved in semi-solid Murashige and Skoog’s (MS) medium. A disinfection protocol was optimized for germination and growth of seedlings in vitro . Proliferation of shoots from cotyledonary and stem nodal segments was achieved in semi-solid MS medium supplemented with 22.2 μM 6-benzyladenine. Temporary immersion culture promoted elongation and rooting of shoots and reduced the shoot tip necrosis compared with culture on semisolid medium (6.7±2.7 and 41.7±7.0%, respectively; P = 0.001). Plantlets derived from temporary immersion showed better performance during the acclimatization phase. This is the first report on micropropagation of H. heptaphyllus . Keywords: Seeds, uncoated seeds, cotyledon, stem nodes, axillary shoots, adventitious shoot, black lapacho
Highlights
Handroanthus heptaphyllus (Vell.) Mattos (Bignoniaceae), synonym Tabebuia heptaphylla (Grose and Olmstead, 2007) known as black lapacho is a heliophile meso hygrophytic species native to the tropical forests and riverine areas of Brazil and Argentina (Ramos et al, 2008; Olmstead et al, 2009; Mori et al, 2012)
Shoot multiplication and plantlet formation was achieved from nodal segments of aseptically germinated seedlings of H. heptaphyllus by combining semi-solid medium; to encourage breaking of apical dominance during the proliferation stage, and automatic temporary immersion in liquid medium; to promote further growth and rooting of the resulting shoots
Preliminary experiments indicated that more than 90% of cotyledonary and stem nodal segments cultured in semi-solid Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium sprouted after 15 days of culture (Table 1)
Summary
Handroanthus heptaphyllus (Vell.) Mattos (Bignoniaceae), synonym Tabebuia heptaphylla (Grose and Olmstead, 2007) known as black lapacho is a heliophile meso hygrophytic species native to the tropical forests and riverine areas of Brazil and Argentina (Ramos et al, 2008; Olmstead et al, 2009; Mori et al, 2012). Despite of the predatory exploration, use of the species on a commercial scale is very limited because their seeds exhibit reduced viability and do not tolerate extended storage periods (Mori et al, 2012). In vitro propagation of plants is a biotechnological tool that helps preserve the genetic resources of trees and crops. The information on in vitro propagation of the Handroanthus genus is scarce.
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