Production of desert locust feeding deterrents from in vitro cultured neem(Azadirachta indica)

Callus was initiated from cotyledon, hypocotyl and shoot tip explants of ne em seedlings (Azadirachta indica A. Juss.) that were cultured on Murashige and Skoog (MS) agar medium supplemented with MS vitamins, casein hydrolysat e, indole-3-acetic acid and benzylamino purine. Shoots regenerated from hyp ocotyl-derived callus only. Mature 10-12-week-old callus regenerated both s hoots and somatic embryos (SEm). The antifeedant activity of different type s of callus. leaves and SEm was determined with larvae of the desert locust Schistocerca gregaria in a no-choice feeding bioassay. In vitro tissue-cul tured neem had antifeedant properties against the desert locust. To the bes t of our knowledge the antifeedant activity of neem somatic embryos extract s is reported here for the first time.