Taro or Satoimo (Colocasia esculenta (L) Schott var antiquorum) is an alternative of non-rice food. To support saitomo mass cultivation in several regions in Indonesia, shoot multiplication and induction of satoimo microtuber through in vitro technique is amongst the stage to be undertaken. The aims of this study were to determine the effect of BAP (benzylaminopurine) and sucrose for shoot multiplication and microtuber induction of in vitro culture of satoimo. The experiment was arranged in two factors: BAP (0, 1, 2 and 3 mg/L) and sucrose (30, 60, 90 and 120 g/L). The result showed that the single effect of BAP or sucrose and interaction of both significantly increased the number of shoots. The effect of 2 mg/L BAP was more homogeneous than that of 1 and 3 mg/L BAP. Sucrose with the concentration of 30 g/L was the best concentration for shoot multiplication. The highest number of microtuber was achieved with 2 mg/L BAP + 30 g/L sucrose treatments, but tended to decrease due to increasing sucrose concentration. In 2 and 3 mg/L BAP treatments, the number of microtuber increased along with the increasing sucrose concentration.Keywords: satoimo, in vitro shoot, microtuber, benzylaminopurine, sucrose ABSTRAKSatoimo (Colocasia esculenta (L) Schott var antiquorum) merupakan bahan pangan alternatif non-beras. Untuk mendukung produksi massal satoimo di beberapa wilayah di Indonesia, multiplikasi tunas dan induksi umbi mikro secara in vitro merupakan tahapan yang harus dilakukan. Tujuan penelitian ini adalah untuk mengetahui pengaruh BAP dan sukrosa terhadap multiplikasi tunas dan induksi umbi mikro satoimo dalam kultur in vitro. Perlakuan terdiri dari 4 taraf konsentrasi BAP (0, 1, 2 dan 3 mg/L) dan 4 taraf konsentrasi sukrosa (30, 60, 90 dan 120 g/L). Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa BAP dan sukrosa secara tunggal serta interaksinya berpengaruh nyata terhadap multiplikasi tunas in vitro. Pengaruh konsentrasi BAP 2 mg/L lebih homogen dibandingkan perlakuan BAP 1 dan 3 mg/L. Sukrosa 30 g/L merupakan konsentrasi terbaik untuk multiplikasi tunas. Umbi mikro terbanyak terdapat pada perlakuan BAP 1 mg/L + sukrosa 30 g/L tetapi cenderung mengalami penurunan jika konsentrasi sukrosa dinaikkan pada konsentrasi BAP tetap. Pada perlakuan BAP 2 dan 3 mg/L jumlah umbi mikro yang terbentuk cenderung meningkat seiring dengan peningkatan konsentrasi sukrosa.Kata kunci: satoimo, tunas in vitro, umbi mikro, benzilaminopurin, sukrosa

Beauveria bassiana, an entomopathogenic fungus, is a high producer of beauvericin (BEA). BEA is a proven and useful compound as a mycoinsecticide for plant pest control and a potential antifungal and anticancer agent for human. BEA produced by Beauveria bassiana fungi, mainly found as an intracellular product, means its production is dependent on the growth of the fungi in the culture medium. This study investigated four culture mediums and two incubation times to enhance growth and BEA production by Beauveria bassiana isolated from the infected insects in Kediri and Mojokerto, East Java, Indonesia. The four culture mediums were Potato Dextrose Broth (PDB), Yeast and Malt Extract Broth (YMB), Malt Extract Broth (MB), and Fusarium Defined Medium (FDM), and two incubation times were 6 and 12 days. The biomass and BEA production were studied in a batch culture without agitation. Our data shows that YMB was the optimum culture medium to produce high biomass of the fungal mycelium in both strains for 6 and 12 days of incubation. However, instead of in YMB, the highest BEA production for both strains was obtained from Beauveria bassiana grown in PDB for 6 days and in MB for 12 days. Correlation between biomass and BEA production in every culture medium is then calculated to see the BEA specific production. The highest BEA specific production has resulted from Beauveria bassiana grown for 12 days in MB medium with BEA yield was 103,42 mg/L and 237,49 mg/L for strain Kediri and Mojokerto, respectively.

Shorea is a genus of the Dipterocarpaceae family which shows high economic and ecological values. Currently, market demand for wood is still met from natural forests that are degrading due to over exploitation. The degraded forests are included in the rehabilitation program that require significant number of planting stocks, mainly from seedlings or wildlings. Correct species identification of planting stocks, particularly wildlings, is an important first step in planting activities and it is relevant with Shorea spp planting stocks due to leaf morphology traits. This study was aimed to examine the traits of leaf morphology of four Shorea species for easy field identification. Samples were taken from five trees for each species. Morphological trait identification was conducted by leaf  observation and measurement. The results showed that all four species had the same apex shape. Six of the twelve morphological characteristic of the variable character can influence the morphological characteristics of the leaves, namely the roving leaf, leaf area, leaf length, aspect ratio, form factorand perimeter ratio of diameter. S. leprosula is similar to S. parvifolia, while S. ovalis is similar to S. guiso. Shorea leaf  character S. parvifolia differentiated from S. leprosula, while Shorea ovalis similar to Shorea guiso. The LP variable (length from the base of the leaf to the widest point of the leaf) is a variable that can be used as aleaf morphological characteristic of the four Shorea which are compared because each one has a different value. S. ovalis has the highest LP value, followed by S. guiso and S. leprosula, while S. parvifolia has the lowest LP value. Keywords: apex shape, identification, leaf morphology traits, Shorea

In Vitro Somatic Embryogenesis and Plantlet Regeneration of Three Varieties of Alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.)ABSTRACTAlfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) is a valuable plant as a source of food for animal, forage, pharmaceutical, medicine, food supplement, and human consumption.  In vitro selection technology combined with induction or spontaneous mutagenesis has been effective in altering or isolating genetic variability for desirable characters.  Consequently, a reproducible in vitro propagation technique of that plant is mandatory. The aim of the research was to obtain information on the embryogenic callus induction, somatic embryogenesis, and plantlet regeneration of three varieties of alfalfa. The results showed that an optimum embryogenic callus induction (82%) was obtained on Murashige & Skoog (MS) basal medium containing 2 ppm 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D), 2 ppm kinetin and 2 ppm a-naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA). Those embryogenic calli could subsequently develop into somatic embryos, which germinated and regenerated into normal plantlets on R1 medium consisting of MS nutrients without the addition of plant growth regulator.Keywords: alfalfa, callus, embryogenic, plantlets, regeneration ABSTRAKAlfalfa (Medicago sativa) adalah tanaman berharga sebagai sumber makanan untuk hewan, yaitu hijauan pakan ternak, farmasi, obat-obatan, suplemen makanan dan konsumsi manusia. Teknologi seleksi in vitro yang dikombinasikan dengan induksi atau mutagenesis spontan telah terbukti efektif dalam mengubah atau mengisolasi variabilitas genetik untuk karakter yang diinginkan. Oleh sebab itu, keberhasilan teknik perbanyakan in vitro yang telah terbukti dapat direproduksi dari tanaman tersebut menjadi syarat yang harus terpenuhi. Tujuan dari penelitian ini adalah untuk mendapatkan informasi mengenai induksi kalus embriogenik, embriogenesis somatik dan regenerasi planlet dari tiga varietas alfalfa. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa induksi kalus embriogenik optimal (82%) didapat pada media Murashige & Skoog (MS) dengan  2 ppm 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D), 2 ppm kinetin dan 2 ppm a-naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA). Kalus embriogenik tersebut dapat membentuk embrio somatik, embrionya berkecambah dan beregenerasi membentuk planlet normal pada perlakuan media R1 yaitu nutrisi MS tanpa penambahan zat pengatur tumbuh.Kata Kunci: alfalfa, embriogenik, kalus, planlet, regenerasi