Micropropagation

Ashwagandha, A popular medicinal plant of family Solanaceae is well known for years as an important drug in ayurvedic literature. The active pharmacological components of Ashwagandha are steroid allactones of the withanolide type. Several chemotypes have been found differing in their withanilide content. The principal withanolide in Indian Withania somnifera are withaferin A and withanilide D. In vitro morphogenesis experiments were conducted using various auxins and cytokinins on MS medium. Direct shoot induction was obtained on 2, 4-D (2 mg/l); IAA (4 mg/l) and NAA (1 mg/l). Kn (1.5 mg/l) was found to be very effective for shoot buds proliferation. Various combinations of NAA and BAP; NAA and Kn, were tested for direct shoot bud induction. It was found that combination of NAA (1 mg/l) & BAP (0.5 mg/l) gave maximum response of shoot induction. Average no. of shoots induced was 7.8.

Tissue culture of medicinal plants is widely used to produce clones and has been found in the conservation of threatened plants species face risk of extinction. Vajradanti is an ethno-medicinally important plant showing pharmacological effects such as anti-microbial, anti-helminthic, anti-fertility, anti-oxidant, anti-diabetic, anti-arthritic, hepato-protective, diuretic, cytoprotective, antidiarrhoeal, analgesic, anti-leukemic, anti-inflammatory and hypoglycemic properties. Micropropagation in most of the plant species involve proliferation of explants using MS medium. There are scanty reports on tissue culture and regeneration of Vajradanti. However, no effective in vitro regeneration protocol has been developed for this medicinally important plant. Development of high frequency regeneration pathway was undertaken using shoot tip and nodal segments of Barleria prionitis on MS medium supplemented with auxin and cytokinins alone and in various combinations.