In vitro propagation and assessment of genetic integrity of Talinum triangulare (Jacq.) Willd: a valuable medicinal herb

Abstract

Talinum triangulare is a medicinally important herb and various parts of the plant are used pharmaceutically for the treatment of different diseases. In our study, a rapid and efficient protocol for micropropagation has been developed from shoot tip and nodal explants of T. triangulare. High shooting frequency (93.33 %) was achieved with shoot tip explants when cultured on Murashige and Skoog’s (MS) medium supplemented with 1.0 mg/L 6-benzyl amino purine (BAP) producing an average of 12.50 ± 0.23 shoots and 5.07 ± 0.02 cm shoot length per explant. A combination of 0.5 mg/L BAP and 0.5 mg/L kinetin was found to be more effective by producing 15.67 ± 0.25 shoots and 6.22 ± 0.02 cm shoot length per explant. The microshoots were excised and cultured on half-strength MS and full-strength MS medium containing different concentrations of indole-3-acetic acid and indole-3-butyric acid (IBA) for root induction. More number of roots (45.10 ± 0.96) with an average length of 5.46 ± 0.08 cm was obtained on half-strength MS medium supplemented with 0.5 mg/L IBA. The rooted shoots were successfully transplanted from different planting substrates to the field with a 100 % survival rate. Random amplified polymorphic DNA analysis was carried out using four random decamer primers. The amplification products were monomorphic in the micropropagated plants and were similar to the mother plant. Absence of polymorphism revealed that no variation was induced, thus maintaining the genetic integrity of the micropropagated plants of T. triangulare.