The propagation of Rafflesia spp. is considered to be important for future development of ornamental and other applications. Thus far, the only successful propagation technique has been grafting. This mini-review succinctly emphasizes what is known about Rafflesia species. Members of the genus Rafflesia (Rafflesiaceae), which are holoparasitic plants known to grow on a host vine, Tetrastigma sp., are widely spread from the Malayan Peninsula to various islands throughout Indonesia. The plant's geographical distribution as well as many other aspects pertaining to the basic biology of this genus have still not been studied. The young flower buds and flowers of wild Rafflesia hasseltii Suringar, Rafflesia keithii Meijer and Rafflesia cantleyi Solms-Laubach are used in local (Malaysia and Indonesia) traditional ethnomedicine as wound-healing agents, but currently no formal published research exists to validate this property. To maintain a balance between its ethnomedicinal and ornamental use, and conservation, Rafflesia spp. must be artificially cultivated to prevent overexploitation. A successful method of vegetative propagation is by host grafting using Rafflesia-impregnated Tetrastigma onto the stem of a normal Tetrastigma plant. Due to difficulties with culture contamination in vitro, callus induction was only accomplished in 2010 for the first time when picloram and 2,4-D were added to a basal Murashige and Skoog medium, and the tissue culture of holoparasitic plants continues to be extremely difficult. Seeds harvested from fertile fruit may serve as a possible method to propagate Rafflesia spp. This paper provides a brief synthesis on what is known about research related to Rafflesia spp. The objective is to further stimulate researchers to examine, through rigorous scientific discovery, the mechanisms underlying the ethnomedicinal properties, the flowering mechanisms, and suitable in vitro regeneration protocols that would allow for the fortification of germplasm conservation.

Avocado (Persea americana Mill.) is considered the most nutritious of all fruits. Avocado fruit contain high unsaturated fat, protein, and energy. It could be eaten fresh for food, drinks, cooking, and cosmetics. Recently, it has become a significant commodity in international trade. Indonesia is the 2nd avocado producing country, but only little quantity of avocado fruits could be exported. The farmers usually grow avocado plants from the seeds, without proper fertilizers in their backyards or small gardens. The problems could be solved by using grafted plants, proper fertilizers, and growing in a large scale of areas. This research was conducted to find out the effect of two liquid bio-fertilizers namely Mega Rhizo and Beyonic StarTmik on the plant growth and growth rate of grafted avocado plants. Some plant growths and growth rates of grafted avocado were influenced significantly by genotype accession, kind of bio-fertilizer, and weather (temperature). Plant growth and growth rate of most avocado accessions were not significant differences to bio-fertilizer applications, but some avocado accessions on certain months were significant differently. Growth rate ranks of plant height based on accession were no.

Avocado (Persea americana Mill.) belongs to Lauraceae family, is originated from lowland and highland tropical America region. Avocado plant was introduced to Indonesia in 1750 by Spanish. Fruit of avocado contains high unsaturated (healthy) fat, protein, fiber, vitamins, minerals, and energy. Fruit of avocado can be eaten freshly, used as an additional ingredient cooking and material for cosmetics. Avocado fruits are available along the year in market cities of Indonesia but their fruits fluctuate in quantity and uncertain quality. It because the plants commonly come from seeds and grown in home-yards or small areas by small farmers. The purposes of this research were to evaluate and select some cultivars for parent plants that produce good fruit characters, high content of fat, and continual yield along the year. The research was started on January 2011 until 2013 for obtaining data, collecting avocado fruits and scions in West Java province, which is the biggest avocado fruit production in Indonesia. From 180 accessions of avocado fruits, there were 31 potential accessions for selecting good cultivars and 6 accessions of them (10, 5, 39, 48, 61, 123) were selected. The selected fruit character had scores 72-80 of maximum 100, fat content 9.78%-20.57%, and harvest periods from January to December. These accessions as grafted plants have grown and propagated in our research station of the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) in Cibinong for further study and for releasing to the farmers.

In Vitro Culture of Endosperm: An efficient protocol to propagate triploid plants directly. L. Agus Sukamto. Triploid plants are very vigorous and beneficial since they generally produce seedless fruits, bigger flowers, and produce more volume of wood than the diploid counterparts. The triploid plants can be produced by crossing diploid and tetraploid plants, but this method is cumbersome and takes a long time. In vitro culture of endosperm is an alternative method to produce triploid plants directly. The success of endosperm culture is dependent on many factors, such as maturity of endosperm, presence of the zygotic embryo, culture medium, growth regulators, browning, culture period, an plant species. Generally, a mature endosperm needs an initial association with an embryo to induce cell divisions, while proliferation of an immature endosperms is not dependent on the embryo. Endosperm of most parasitic angiosperms shows direct organogenesis without callus formation. Plants produced from endosperm culture are generally triploid, although some plants possess different ploidy levels. Keywords:In vitro culture, endosperm, propagation of triploid plants, efficient propagation protocol. ABSTRAK Kultur In Vitro Endosperma, Protokol yang Efisien untukMendapatkan Tanaman Triploid secara Langsung. L. Agus Sukamto. Tanaman triploid adalah sangat vigor dan berharga karena menghasilkan buah tanpa biji, bunga yang lebih besar, dan volume kayu yang lebih besar dibandingkan dengan tanaman normal diploid. Tanaman triploid dapat diperoleh dari persilangan tanaman diploid dengan tetraploid, tetapi cara ini tidak praktis dan memerlukan waktu yang lama. Kultur endosperma secara in vitro adalah cara alternatif untuk memperoleh tanaman triploid secara langsung. Keberhasilan kultur endosperma tergantung pada banyak faktor, yaitu umur endosperma, adanya embrio zigot, media kultur, zat pengatur tumbuh, pencoklatan, dan lama dikultur, serta jenis tanamannya. Umumnya, inisiasi endosperma yang tua memerlukan penyertaan embrio untuk menginduksi pembelahan sel, tetapi endosperma yang muda tidak memerlukan embrio untuk inisiasi pembelahan selnya. Kebanyakan endosperma tanaman parasit membentuk suatu organ secara langsung tanpa melalui pembentukan kalus. Hak Cipta © 2010, BB-BiogenTanaman hasil kultur endosperma kebanyakan adalah triploid, walaupun ada beberapa tanaman yang memiliki tingkat ploidi yang lain.Kata kunci: Kultur endosperma, in vitro, tanaman triploid, protokol yang efisien. PENDAHULUANEndosperma adalah jaringan triploid yang terdapat pada biji, hasil dari penyatuan dua inti polar gamet betina dengan satu inti gamet jantan, yang berbeda dengan embrio dalam jumlah kromosomnya. Endosperma merupakan massa sel parenchym yang relatif homogen, tanpa adanya elemen jaringan pembuluh, sel-selnya bervariasi dalam ukuran, pembelahan, pemisahan kromosom, dan poliploidinya. Endosperma terdapat pada individu yang mencakup lebih dari 81% pada tumbuhan berbunga (Johri dan Bhojwani, 1977;Johri et al., 1980; Thomas dan Chaturvedi, 2008).

Nepenthes albomarginata Lobb ex Lindl. is a carnivorous plant, distributes in several regions in Indonesia. The plant population decreases drastically because of over exploitation and ruining nature habitat. Plant propagation by nature and cutting are not enough to rehabilitation its population. In vitro culture of N. albomarginata was carried out using plantlets grown from the seeds in vitro. Plantlets were cut to became two part explants, consisted of shoot tip and under-shoot tip cuttings. These cutting explants were grown on Murashige & Skoog (MS) media with addition of plant growth regulators of 6-benzylaminopurine (BA), combined with or without-naphthalene acetic acid (NAA) or 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) at 1 mg/l. Shoot tip cuttings of N. albomarginata formed double multiple shoot 25,00% on control; formed triple multiple shoots 25,00% onBA 1 mg/l treatment; formed callus 37,50%, triple or quartet shoots 25,00% and rooted plantlets 25,00% on BA 1 mg/l + NAA 1 mg/l treatment. The under-shoot tip cuttings ofN. albomarginata formed double – triple shoots 25,00% and rooted plantlets 37,50% on control; formed double – triple shoots 25,00% and rooted plantlets 12,50% on BA 1 mg/ltreatment; formed callus 12,50%, double - pentacle shoots 37,50% and rooted plantlets 25,00% on BA 1 mg/l + NAA 1 mg/l treatment. 2,4-D 1 mg/l or its combined with BA 1mg/l treatment caused deadly shoot tip or under-shoot tip explants. The combination of BA 1 mg/l + NAA 1 mg/l was the best treatment for producing callus, multiple shootsand rooted plantlets of N. albomarginata.