PLANT CELL BIOTECHNOLOGY AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY

Polygonum glabrum Willd  (knotweed), a member of Polygonaceae, was a rich source of  flavonoids, stilbenes, anthraquinones, glycolipids and terpenes. The plant has been used as folk medicine and as an ingredient in various ayurvedic preparations. Shrinkage of wetlands and the indiscriminate use of weedicides were causing serious threats to the populations of P. glabrum. An efficient protocol for the in vitro propagation and rapid multiplication was therefore inevitable to protect this underutilized medicinal plant from the threat of extinction. Through the present work an efficient  protocol for the rapid micropropagation P. glabrum was standardized.  Leaf explants when cultured on MS medium supplemented with 5 mg/l 2.4 D and 3 mg/l kinetin produced creamy white compact callus. Profuse caulogenesis was achieved using MS medium fortified with 2 mg/l kinetin and rooting was induced using MS medium supplemented with 2 mg/l kinetin and 1 mg/l IBA. Hardened plantlets were transferred to the field and 88% of the plantlets survived.