In vitro propagation of Hedychium coronarium Koen. through axillary bud proliferation

This report describes an efficient and reproducible protocol for large-scale multiplication of Hedychium coronarium plantlets. Axillary bud explants were cultured on Murashige and Skoog medium supplemented with 3mg/l benzylaminopurine, 3mg/l kinetin (KIN), and 0.2mg/l thidiazuron, yielding a maximum of 13.2 +/- 0.3 number of shoots. Sub-culturing of shoots every 4 weeks on fresh multiplication medium yielded a consistent proliferation rate. Shoot clusters containing three to five shoots were successfully rooted in KIN (3mg/l) and indole acetic acid (0.5mg/l), yielding a maximum of 6.3 +/- 0.5 number of roots. Plantlets grown in vitro were acclimatized and subsequently transferred to the field for phenotypic evaluation. Random amplified polymorphic DNA and inter-simple sequence repeat analysis has confirmed the genetic uniformity of in vitro plantlets up to 2 years. After 2 years, these plantlets were transplanted to field, and evaluation of phenotypic characteristics was done. This study is of high significance as these could be commercially utilized for large-scale production of true-to-type plantlets.