Ananya Borthakur, Suresh C Das, Mohan C Kalita and Priyabrata Sen
With a view to overcome the hurdles of a conventional method of propagation of the leguminous tree, Albizzia chinensis (Osbeck) Merr., in vitro approaches became necessary for selection of genotypes. A study was undertaken to determine the amenability of apical buds from in vitro seedlings for direct shoot regeneration. To achieve optimal conditions for shoot proliferation, the explants from 7-days-old seedlings were cultured on Murashige and Skoog (MS) basal medium supplemented with 6- benzylaminopurine (BAP) and kinetin solely or in combinations of both at different concentrations. The highest regeneration frequency was obtained with 1 mg l-1 BAP in which 76.67% of the apical buds responded with an average of 4-6 shoots per explant and shoot length of 2.10 ± 0.05 cms. Kinetin was found to be ineffective for shoot proliferation whether incorporated singly or in combination with BAP. Rooting of the microshoots was tried in growth regulator-free as well as indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) or indole-3-butyric acid (IBA) fortified half strength MS media. Highest rooting (58.33%) of the in vitro regenerated shoots was induced in half strength MS media incorporated with 1 mg l-1 IAA with an average of 2 roots per shoot. Soilrite was the best for acclimatization and establishment of the rooted plantlets, as compared to the other potting mixtures. The plantlets showed a survival percentage of 43.33%.
