Micro-propagation of Aquatic Plant Brazilian Micro Sword (Lileaopsis brasiliensis)

Lileaopsis brasiliensis is one of the ornamental aquatic plants and yet still being commercialized in Malaysia because of the grassy foreground features. This study is conducted to propagate higher quantity and quality of L. brasiliensis and to determine the optimum concentration of plant growth regulator for the micro-propagation in Murashige and Skoog (MS) (1962) basal media with different concentration of Naphteneacetic acid (NAA) and 6- Benzylaminopurine (BAP) for four weeks period following with subculture procedure. All treatments for 1 L MS media were adjusted to pH 5.7-5.8, adding sucrose and pytagel with 30 g/L and 2.5 g/L, respectively. The explants were sub-cultured at least three times within five months. The results of the quality and quantity of this species within different concentration of NAA and BAP have been determined. For shoot regeneration, the highest number of shoot induced in initial culture (C0), first (C1), second (C2) and the third subculture (C3) were 103, 102, 104 and 137 respectively. There was no significant different of shoot regeneration in different concentration of NAA and BAP combination. However, the high number of shoot regeneration was obtained from the following concentration NAA: BAP: zero concentration in both C0 (103.0±5.3) and C2 (104.0±14.2), 1.5: 0.0 mg/L with 102.0±4.4 and1.5:0.5 mg/L with 137.0±41.2 in C1 and C3, respectively. Based on the results, it can be concluded that shoot regeneration was observed even though in very low concentration of NAA and BAP. Keywords: Aquatic plants, lilaeopsis brasiliensis, micro-propagation, plant growth regulator

Basal Media for In Vitro Germination of Red-Purple Dragon Fruit Hylocereus polyrhizus

Five types of basal media, DM 94 (a modified MS), Gamborg B5 (1968), Murashige and Skoog (1962, MS), Lloyd and McCown (1980, LM), and Chinese A (a modified MS) were screened for germination of dragon fruit seeds obtained from the local supermarket. Based on preliminary experiments to determine the potential hormone combinations giving high germination percentage, three combinations were selected. The treatments consisted of 0.8 ppm IBA, 0.5 ppm IBA + 1.0 ppm BAP, 0.5 ppm IBA + 1.0 ppm kinetin and control. Germination of seeds, after three weeks in the media, varied between 62.8% and 89.3%. The highest and the lowest percentages came from similar treatment consisting of 0.5 ppm IBA + 1.0 ppm kinetin but different basal media, Chinese A and DM 94, respectively. The best medium for germination and subsequent growth was a modified MS called Chinese A, which gave 100% transplanting success. This screening experiment showed that this medium can be used for future seed germination of red-purple dragon fruit Hylocereus polyrhizus

Thidiazuron induces high frequency direct somatic embryogenesis growth from cotyledon culture of eurycoma longifolia

Eurycoma longifolia is one of the well-known herbal plants in Southeast Asian region due to its remarkable properties, especially the root part that can be used as aphrodisiac, anti-cancer, anti-malaria and anti-ulcer agent. Uncontrolled harvesting of this plant has reduced its population. Thus, an efficient protocol involving the induction of direct somatic embryogenesis from cotyledon culture of E. longifolia has been developed. 15% explants forming embryos were achieved on Modified Murashige and Skoog’s (MMS) medium supplemented with 0.1 mg/L zeatin plus 0.2 mg/L indole-3-butyric acid (IBA). However, the addition of 0.12 mg/L thidiazuron (TDZ) has increased the percentage up to 22.0%. The maturation phase occurred in the same medium, thus decreased the frequency of subculture and the genetic instability of the embryos. Secondary somatic embryogenesis growth of 20%, which was the highest percentage of growth, was achieved from the primary embryos that were cultured in the MMS medium with the treatment of 2.0 mg/L IBA plus 0.075 mg/L TDZ. The results indicated that the direct somatic embryogenesis obtained can be further used to develop a protocol for plantlet regeneration of E. longifolia