In vitro morphogenesis and plantlet regeneration from seeds of Syzygium alternifolium

This work describes in vitro morphogenesis and plantlet regeneration from s eeds of the naturally polyembryonic tree Syzygium alternifolium, The basal medium (BM) comprised half strength Murashige and Skoog's (MS) salts, B-5 v itamins, 2 mg dm(-3) glycine, 250 mg dm(-3) ascorbic acid and 20 g dm(-3) s ucrose. Addition of auxins like indole-3-acetic acid (IAA), l-naphthalene a cetic acid or 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid to the basal medium induced fo rmation of roots or callus from the dicotyledonous as well as tricotyledono us seeds, In contrast, cytokinins like N-6-benzyladenine (BA), kinetin, 2-i sopentenyl adenine, thidiazuron alone or a combination of BA and auxins ind uced development of adventitious shoots. The medium containing 3.0 mg dm(-3 ) BA and 0.5 mg dm(-3) IAA induced the highest number of adventitious shoot s (32 - 33) from dicotyledonous seed with an average length of 4.1 cm withi n 6 weeks of incubation. Rooting of 80 % adventitious shoots was achieved b y dipping the shoots in 100 mg dm(-3) IAA for 15 min. About 70 % of the roo ted shoots were successfully established in pots after hardening.