In vitro growth response of Artemisia annua seeds to different concentrations of plant growth regulators

Artemisia annua is a crop popularly known for its importance in the production of anti-malarial and possibly antibacterial agents and natural pesticides. A. annua anamed is a hybrid which is able to grow well in hot weather and still retain its anti-malarial characteristics. Seeds of annua were cultured on Murashige and Skoog (MS) full strength without plant growth regulators, and also on MS medium augmented with varied concentrations of kinetin (0.025 to 0.1 mg/L) and benzyl amino purine (BA) (0.025 to 0.1 mg/L), while the auxin used, naphthalene acetic acid (NAA 0.01 mg/L) was constant for all treatments. At 16 weeks, data was collected and results were analyzed. The mean shoot and root length of plantlets regenerated from seeds was optimum for elongation, on 0.1 mg/L kinetin combined with 0.01 mg/L NAA. Single shoots formed on auxin free MS fortified with 0.025 mg/L BA, gave the highest mean number of nodes. Callus formation was evident at concentrations above 0.05 mg/L BA in combination with 0.01 mg/L NAA. Key words: Artemisia annua anamed, plant regeneration, benzyl amino purine (BA), napthalene acetic acid (NAA).