Somatic Embryogenesis of Tylophora Indica (Burm.f.) Merril., an Important Medicinal Plant

An efficient procedure has been developed for inducing somatic embryogenesis from mature leaves of Tylophora indica (Burm.f.) Merrill, an important medicinal plant. Leaf sections were initially cultured on Murashige and Skoog's (MS) medium supplemented with thidiazuron (TDZ) in addition with 2, 4-dichlorophenoxy acetic acid (2,4-D), particularly 0.5 μm TDZ along with 1.5 μm 2,4-D was very effective in inducing somatic embryos. Plants were regenerated from in vitro somatic embryos plated on semisolid medium devoid of growth regulators. Plantlets were obtained in 65% of the cultures with 2% Sodium alginate coated embryos and control embryos showed 90 % germination. The percent of survival during hardening was 65 to 70. Regenerated plantlets continued to grow after transfer to a greenhouse environment and were similar phenotypically to zygotic seedlings. This simple regeneration system through somatic embryogenesis may be beneficial for mass propagation of Tylophora indica.