Abstract:
Explants of leaf, root and petiole were
taken from in vitro grown Purple coneflower
(Echinacea purpurea L.) plants and their regeneration
ability was compared by culturing these explants on
media with various supplements. The regeneration
ability in root and petiole explants was higher than that
in leaf ones, and a combination of 0.3 mg/l
benzyladenine (BA) with 0.01 mg/l naphthaleneacetic
acid (NAA) in Murashige and Skoog (MS) basal
medium was the most effective, yielding 100% shoot
regeneration frequency and associated with the highest
number of 1.84 shoots per explant. Explants with
higher chromosome level need higher cytokinine
concentration to achieve higher regeneration
frequency. In the experiments, haploid and diploid
plants showed higher regeneration potential at 0.3 mg/l
BA whereastetraploid (2n=44) required a higher BA
concentration of 0.5 mg/l to accelerate the ability. All
explants from two and a half months old plantlets
produced buds in high frequency; 1143.9 buds were
regenerated from 1g explants. With the established
regeneration culture system, it was possible to obtain
a large number (1124864) of buds within one year
period from one mother plant. For initiation of roots
from the regenerated shoots and stimulation of growth
of the plantlets, all shoots from different explants
responded equally well on medium with 0.01 mg/l
NAA.
