IN VITRO PLANT REGENERATION AND CALLUS FORMATION FROM THE NODAL EXPLANTS OF PHYLLANTHUS NIRURI L. (EUPHORBIACEAE)-A MEDICINAL HERB

Aim : In vitro propagation methods can be applied to conser ve medicinal plant or to sustain the productivity o f the biologically active compounds. An efficient in vitro plant regeneration protocol was developed for the m edicinally potent Phyllanthus niruri L. (Euphorbiaceae) using nodal segment as explant. Methods : In this study, two different media were used to t est the individual effects of growth regulators in shoot and callus initiation and also to evaluate the abil ity of different basal media which supports the est ablishment of shoot culture. Results :Maximum multiplication of shoots (15.28±0.96) was achieved on Murashige and Skoog’s medium supplemented with BA (0.5 mg/L) after 3-4 weeks of inoculation. To induce callus culture, explants wer e oriented in both horizontal and vertical position on the sur face of the medium. The results were comparatively promising when the explants oriented horizontally. The shoots were separated from cluster and subcultured for th eir elongation on the same medium . Individual in vitro shoot of P. niruri could produce normal root systems when they were cultured on basic MS medium without any plant growth regulator. Conclusion :The results obtained reveals that the low cost sys tem is now available for large scale production of