Random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) markers were employed for characterization, assessment of genetic variation and inferring relationships among six variants of Canna indica L. A total of 198 RAPD bands ranging from 200 bp to 3 kbp were generated by all the six variants. Among them, most of the bands were found to be polymorphic, four band were unique of which two bands (OPA022000 and OPA043000) were observed in the variant 2 (small red) and the other two (OPA013000 and OPA053000) were noticed in the variant 4 (orange), and the remaining bands were found to be monomorphic. The pair-wise genetic distance was determined among the six variants that ranged from 0.1446 to 0.6554. A dendogram was constructed based on the RAPD profiling to infer the relationship among the six variants of C. indica that resulted in two major clusters: the first one contained two variants, viz. variant 1 (local red) and variant 2 (small red), while the second cluster composed of the remaining four variants. The results as revealed from the RAPD analysis were found congruent with those of morphological and anatomical investigation of the species. Bangladesh J. Plant Taxon. 28(1): 75-81, 2021 (June)

Cotyledonary leaf and node of two varieties, namely red and yellow of Bell pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) were cultured in MS with different concentrations and combinations of plant growth regulators. The cotyledonary leaf was found to be most responsive towards multiple shoot regeneration. The leaf explants of red variety showed best result towards shoot regeneration in MS with BAP (8.0 mg/l), NAA (0.02 mg/l) and IAA (1.0 mg/l). Eighty per cent explants responded within 13 - 14 days, and the mean number of shoot per explant was was found to be 5.67. The cotyledonary leaf explants of yellow variety showed promising result when the cotyledonary leaf explant was cultured in MS with BAP (8.0 mg/l) and NAA (0.5 mg/l) being the mean number of shoot per explants 5.13 and 70% of them responded within 14 - 15 days. Maximum root induction was found in MS with IBA (0.5 mg/l) in both capsicum varieties. After successful root formation plantlets were transplanted and acclimatized to the soil. Plant Tissue Cult. & Biotech. 30(2): 267-275, 2020 (December)

An in vitro regeneration system for two varieties of white jute (Corchorus capsularis L.) namely, BJC-7370 and BJC-83 was developed. The regeneration protocol was based upon direct organogenesis from seedling-derived explants such as cotyledon with petioles, cotyledonary node. Shoot regeneration was achieved from cotyledon with petiole and cotyledonary node through use of MS supplemented with 0.5 mg/l BAP and 1.0 mg/l IAA for BJC-7370 while for BJC-83 shoot initiation was obtained on 1.25 mg/l BAP and 0.25 mg/l NAA using the same explants. Elongation of shoots was achieved on MS containing 0.2 mg/l BAP for the two said jute varieties. Regenerated excised shoots developed effective in vitro root system on half strength of MS supplemented with 0.3 mg/l IBA for both the varieties. The in vitro grown plantlets were transferred to soil for acclimation. These plants grew up to maturity, flowered and produced seeds identical to the control plants.