Tissue culture techniques for maintenance and distribution of germplasm of tropical grasses

Discusses tissue culture techniques used on some accessions of Cynodon and Digitaria at the Zwai seed multiplication site of ILCA for maintainance and distribution of germplasm. Presents data on the establishment survival and re-establishment of cultures

Practical applications of in-vitro techniques to forage germplasm

Reports the work in progress at ILCA on appropriate methods of collecting Digitaria species and multiplying these former species and Leucaena leucocephala, Erythrina brucei and Sesbania sesban in vitro. Discusses their potential use in forage genetic resources. Discusses inoculation of stem cuttings, incubation of cultures, rooting and transfer to soil. Presents results of collection, initiation and multiplication, slow growth conservation, adventitious regeneration and establishment in soil

Plant recovery from seedling-derived shoot tips of Faidherbia albida grown in vitro

In vitro cultures were initiated from shoots taken from seedlings of Faidherbia albida on Murashige and skoog based medium supplemented with different combinations of 6-benzylaminopurine (BA) and alpha-raphthaleneacetic acid (NAA). The shoots grew and rooted on all media. Rooting and vigorous growth were most successful on medium supplemented with 10-M NAA alone on which 87 percent of the shoots formed roots. Seventy-one percent of plantlets which were transfered to soil were successfuly established and nodulated with the native Rhizobium. The procedures provided a basis for the development of in vitro techniques for rapid multiplicaiton and physiological studies of the species

In vitro culture techniques for forage genetic resources

Briefly outlines results of a research carried out at ILCA since 1986 on in vitro culture technology of Cynodon aethiopicus, C. dactylon, Digitaria decumbens, Sesbania sesban, Leucaena leucocephala, Erythrina brucei, Faidherbia albida and Acacia tortilis

Germplasm storage at ILCA

Looks into ILCA'S genebank which has a collection of over 9000 accessions of forage germplasm of grasses, legumes and browse. The majority of accessions are stored by conventional methods of seed storage confirming to international standards as far as possible. However, there are some species of grasses which rarely produce seeds and which are currently stored in a field genebank. In vitro techniques are being developed for the management of these and some browse species, which take a long time to produce seeds. The methods used and the germplasm stored are described

Conservation of forage germplasm with an emphasis on application of tissue culture techniques in a genebank

Conservation of germplasm has traditionally relied to a large extent on storage of seeds in genebanks. However, some forage species may take a long time to research maturity and produce seeds or, in the case of grasses, have inadequate production of seeds for collection, multiplication, dissemination and utilization. In vitro culture techniques have a potential use for those tropical forage legumes and grasses which cannot be conveniently handled by conventional methods as an alternative method to field genebanks for genetic resources management. This paper discusses the conservation of forage germplasm with an emphasis on application of tissue culture techniques in a genebank. Topics of discussion include seed storage; conservation in field genebanks, use of in vitro culture for germplasm management, in vitro culture research at ILCA, distribution of germplasm; duplication; and seed multiplication and characterisation. It also lists forage germplasm in the ILCA genebank and the major genera in the ILCA genebank

Conservation of forage germplasm with an emphasis on application of tissue culture techniques in a genebank

Conservation of germplasm has traditionally relied to a large extent on storage of seeds in genebanks. However, some forage species may take a long time to research maturity and produce seeds or, in the case of grasses, have inadequate production of seeds for collection, multiplication, dissemination and utilization. In vitro culture techniques have a potential use for those tropical forage legumes and grasses which cannot be conveniently handled by conventional methods as an alternative method to field genebanks for genetic resources management. This paper discusses the conservation of forage germplasm with an emphasis on application of tissue culture techniques in a genebank. Topics of discussion include seed storage; conservation in field genebanks, use of in vitro culture for germplasm management, in vitro culture research at ILCA, distribution of germplasm; duplication; and seed multiplication and characterisation. It also lists forage germplasm in the ILCA genebank and the major genera in the ILCA genebank