Micropropagation of Penthorum chinense through axillary buds

Penthorum chinense Pursh is a traditional medicinal herb in China. Micropropagation protocol of this plant has been established. The shoot induction rate is high by culturing nodal explants on Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with 6-benzyladenine (BA) as compared with kinetin (Kn). After 6 wks, the highest shoot formation (5.2) is achieved in 59.2% nodal explants cultured on MS medium combined with 2.0 mg/L BA. After 4 wk of subculture on the fresh MS medium, the highest shoot multiplication rate 6.4 is accomplished. MS medium containing 1.0 mg/L BA is most suitable for shoot propagation. Individual well developed shoots (0.8-to 1.0-cm long) are excised and culture on the MS medium containing with 0.5 mg/L indole-3-acetic acid (IAA), for rooting. Three weeks later, 98.8% of shoots had rooted with an average of ten roots per shoot. Plantlets transferred to soil were successfully acclimatized. This protocol will facilitate the conservation and propagation of this important medicinal plant.