Influence of some adjuvants on in vitro clonal propagation of male and female jojoba plants

Abstract

The influence of different adjuvants, activated charcoal (AC), casein hydrolyzate (CH), coconut water (CW), polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP), and triiodobenzoic acid (TIBA), has been assessed on the shoot production potential of the nodal explants derived from in vitro-raised male and female jojoba (Simmondsia chinensis) shoots. Nodal explants of each sex were cultured separately on Murashige and Skoog medium supplemented with different levels of AC, CW, CH, PVP, and TIBA either alone or along with optimum levels of N 6-benzyladenine (BA; 10 μM for male, 20 μM for female). Some differences in response of the explants of both the sexes have been observed in terms of (1) percentage of explants developing shoots, (2) average shoot number, and (3) average shoot length. AC alone proved beneficial for elevating morphogenic response in male as well as female explants in comparison to basal medium or media containing AC and the optimum level of BA. When used alone, CH proved inhibitory for shoot differentiation in both sexes, especially in male explants. Addition of PVP to MS enhanced shoot proliferation in female explants only, but along with BA it increased the response of male explants. BA in combination with different levels of TIBA promoted shoot multiplication in female explants. Thus, explants of both male and female shoots exhibited differential morphogenic behavior under the influence of various adjuvants. However, BA alone proved to be the best for differentiation of shoots in both male (10 μM) as well as female (20 μM) explants.