1Department of Biotechnology, DAV College, Amritsar-143001, Punjab, India
Department of Botany, Punjabi University, Patiala-147 001, Punjab, India
Protocol for mass propagation, through direct plant regeneration in three commercial cultivars of sugarcane (CoJ64, CoJ83 & CoJ86) was standardized. Cultures were established from the young leaf segments (1.0–1.5 cm), excised from spindle leaf (Shoot tip), used as explant source, were cultured on different media compositions based on Murashige and Skoog salts. Cultured explants exhibited swelling followed by direct shoot regeneration on media containing NAA, in all the three varieties. The highest frequency of shoot regeneration (87.58%) occurred on MS medium supplemented with NAA (5.0 mg/L) and Kinetin (0.5 mg/L) in variety, CoJ83. Medium devoid of NAA and supplemented with only kinetin did not induce direct shoot regeneration in any of the varieties thus tried. Subsequently profuse rooting of shoots was observed on the same medium and complete plantlets were recovered within 6 weeks. The sugarcane plantlets were acclimatized in greenhouse. The plantlets were hardened and transferred to soil, which exhibited good survival ranging from 85–90%. Tissue culture derived field-grown plants were normal and exhibited faster growth and better tillers. This protocol is a single step method without callus interphase for direct plant regeneration, which can be used commercially for rapid mass cloning of elite germplasm of sugarcane.
Direct plant regeneration, Micropropagation, Organogenesis, Rapid mass cloning, Saccharum officinarum L, Shoot tip culture
