Micropropagtion of Lisianthus (Eustoma grandiflorum)

Abstract

This study was aimed to micropropagate Lisianthus Eustoma grandiflora plant which is one of the important cut flowers. The study included many experiments, at the initiation stage, the effect of the two auxins Indole butyric acid (IBA) and Naphthalene acetic acid (NAA) supplemented to Murashige and Skoog medium (MS) containing 0.3 mg/l of Benzyladenine (BA) were investigated for their effect on mean number of initiated shoots and length. type of explant were used namely, leaf discs. The effect of different strengths of MS and B5 media on mean number of multiplied shoots was also studied. During acclimatization, different mixture ratios of peat moss and river sand were examined in their effect on plantlets survival. Results showed that IBA achieved the highest mean shoot number formed on the three explants types under investigation reached 6.8 shoots with a mean length of 2.75 cm. Maximum mean shoot number reached 7.3 at the concentration 0.1 mg/l of IBA while maximum mean shoot number reached 6.4 at the concentration 0.0 mg/l of NAA. Results also revealed that MS medium was better than B5 medium in sustaining shoots yielding 8.8 and 6.6 for both media respectively. A significant reduction in mean number of shoots occurred with reducing the medium salt strength. Shoots transferred to MS medium supplemented with 1.0 mg/l of IBA produced the highest mean root number, length and rooting percentage reached 5.5 roots, 2.5 cm and 70% respectively while rooting percentage did not exceed 20% when the same medium was supplemented with 1.0 mg/l of NAA. Plantlets were successfully acclimatized achiving 90% survival when grown on agricultural medium consisted of river sand : peat moss (2:1)v/v.