Environ Exp Biol (2019) 17: 179–183

Direct shoot regeneration from excised leaf segments of Crataeva nurvala

Abstract

Crataeva nurvala Buch Ham. (Capparidaceae) is an important medicinal tree. Stem and root bark of the tree are important constituents of various pharmaceutical products. Its natural propagation is hampered due to seed feeding insects. The present work describes a method to obtain plants of C. nurvala from excised leaf segments through direct shoot regeneration. An average of six shoots regenerated from single leaf segment on Murashige and Skoog medium supplemented with 2 mg L^–1 6-benzyladenine and 0.1 mg L^–1 indole-3-acetic acid within 45 to 60 days. These shoots were rooted on ½ Murashige and Skoog medium containing 0.5 mg L^–1 α-naphthaleneacetic acid. About 80% rooted plants were successfully acclimatized in natural conditions. These results will be useful for future studies using leaf segments for genetic transformation, genome editing and mutation breeding with Crataeva and related taxa.