Leaf explants of Jatropha curcas cultured on Murashige and Skoog's (MS) medium supplemented with thidiazuron (TDZ; 0.90 µM) in combination with indole-3-butyric acid (IBA; 0.98µM) produced adventitious shoot buds directly on the surface of the explants without formation of intervening callus while shoot bud formation was accompanied with callus formation on medium supplemented with 6-benzylaminopurine (BAP; 13.3 µM) and IBA (2.46 µM). TDZ treatment resulted in more than twice higher rate of shoot bud induction than BAP. Shoot buds were multiplied and elongated following repeated transfers to medium containing BAP (2.22 µM) and gibberellic acid (GA 3 ; 1.44 µM). The effect of copper sulphate on differentiation of shoot buds from leaf segments was also investigated. Both shoot induction and multiplication media were supplemented with different levels of CuSO 4 (0 -5 µM). Significant improvement in shoot bud induction was observed when the concentration of CuSO 4 was increased to 10 times the normal MS level. Healthy elongated shoots were rooted on half strength MS medium supplemented with IBA (2.46 µM). Rooted plantlets were transferred to field and survived. Histological analysis revealed direct formation of shoot buds from leaf explants.Additional key words: adventitious bud regeneration, benzylaminopurine, gibberellic acid, indole-3-butyric acid, mineral nutrition. ⎯⎯⎯⎯The use of vegetable oil as biofuel is being considered as a suitable alternative to limited fossil fuel reserves. In this context, non-edible vegetable oil of Jatropha curcas has the potential of providing a promising and commercially viable alternative to petro-diesel (Gubitz et al. 1999). Jatropha curcas (family: Euphorbiaceae), is a multipurpose, drought resistant, perennial plant of Latin American origin, but it is now widespread throughout the tropical regions of the world (Openshaw 2000). Seeds are genetically heterozygous as Jatropha is cross pollinated, which results in a high degree of variation (Ginwal et al. 2005). To meet the large scale demand and ensure easy supply of the elite plant material, there is need to establish mass multiplication techniques. Though there are reports regarding the effect of different concentrations and combinations of plant growth regulators on regeneration from various explants in J. curcas Mukta 1996, Datta et al. 2007, Deore and Johnson 2008), attempts have not been made to standardize the nutrient requirement to improve regeneration. Primarily, the composition and ratios of plant growth regulators are manipulated to optimize the quality and number of organs initiated (Ramage and Williams 2002). However, a tissue growth rate and the extent and quality of morphogenic response are also influenced by the type and concentration of nutrients supplied in the culture medium (Niedz and Evens 2007). In the present investigation, we have developed an efficient regeneration protocol by standardizing the copper requirements for improved shoot bud induction.Young and fully-expanded leaves from apex were collected fr...

The present study reports an efficient in vitro micropropagation protocol for a medicinally important tree, Terminalia bellerica Roxb. from nodal segments of a 30 years old tree. Nodal segments taken from the mature tree in MarchApril and cultured on half strength MS medium gave the best shoot bud proliferation response. )] in the culture medium aided to minimize browning and improve explant survival during shoot bud induction. Highest multiplication of shoots was achieved on medium supplemented with 6-benzyladenine (BA, 8.8 μM) and α-naphthalene acetic acid (NAA, 2.6 μM) in addition to antioxidants. Shoot elongation was obtained on MS medium containing BA (4.4 μM)+phloroglucinol (PG, 3.9 μM). Elongated shoots were transferred to half strength MS medium containing indole-3-butyric acid (IBA, 2.5 μM) for root development. The acclimatization of plantlets was carried out under greenhouse conditions. The genetic fidelity of the regenerated plants was checked using inter simple sequence repeats (ISSR) and randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) analysis. Comparison of the bands among the regenerants and mother plant confirmed true-to-type clonal plants.

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