Effect of agar, MS medium strength, sucrose and polyamines on in vitro rooting of Syzygium alternifolium

This pager describes the effect of agar, MS basal medium strength, sucrose and polyamines on the in vitro rooting of Syzygium alternifolium realized b y a two step procedure involving root initiation (RI) and root elongation ( RE). RI was carried out on solidified MS medium supplemented with 1.0 mg dm (-3) indole-3-butyric acid (IBA) for 3 weeks, and RE following transfer to half-strength MS medium devoid of growth regulators for another 3 weeks, Ag ar and MS basal medium concentrations played important role on rooting resp onse as well as on health of rooted shoots. Sucrose concentration was posit ively correlated with the rooting percentage, root number per shoot and roo t length. The combination of polyamines and 1.0 mg dm(-3) IBA increases roo ting percentage compared to media containing only 1.0 mg dm(-3) IBA. Optimu m rooting was attained with half-strength MS medium containing 1.0 mg dm(-3 ) IBA, 2 % sucrose, 10 mu M spermine and 0.8 % agar.