AN EFFICIENT PROTOCOL FOR IN VITRO SHOOT REGENERATION FROM DIFFERENT EXPLANTS OF MURRAYA KOENIGII (L.) SPRENG

Murraya koenigii (L.) Spreng, commonly known locally as “curry patta” or “mitha neem” in India, is a valuable medicinal plant known for its biochemical and aromatic properties. This paper presents a protocol for the rapid and high frequency shoot regeneration from nodal and inter-node explants from matured plant and epicotyl, cotyledons, cotyledonary node (embryonic axis), juvenile leaf, hypocotyl and root segment of in vitro derived seedling via axillary and adventitious shoot formation of M. koenigii. Adventitious regeneration, which is a pre-requisite in most genetic transformation studies using Agrobacterium and ballistics, needs to be developed as a protocol for micropropagation of M. koenigii. Cytokinins benzylaminopurine (BAP), Kinetin (Kin), adenine sulphate (ADS) and indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) were used for multiple shoot induction. Addition of an auxin along with cytokinin improved the shoot production capacity. Shoot buds could be initiated from all the explants tested, with epicotyl explants producing the highest average number of shoots/explant. N6-benzyle adenine (BA), kinetin, adenine sulphate (ADS) and indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) in combination were the most effective PGRs for shoot induction.