International Journal of Biotechnology & Biochemistry

The present study comprises of comparative results obtained in liquid and conventional semi solid culture systems for mass multiplication of Glycyrrhiza glabra (L.) commonly known as licorice. The liquid culture medium exhibited an overall supportive effect and produced 44 nodal units per culture flask as compared to semi-solid medium (15 nodal units per culture flask) during the same culture duration. Besides, liquid medium was also proved as an efficient medium for high biomass production (3.85 gm. fresh weight per flask) as compared to semi solid medium (2.87 gm. Fresh weight per flask) under similar culture conditions and duration. Thus, in equal culture duration of 40 days, about 3 fold increase in propagable units (nodal segments) could be obtained. This will undoubtedly persuade the competence of a micropropagation protocol, if such a procedure is adopted for commercial cultivation by any biotech industry. An increased biomass was observed due to more number of regenerated shoots per explant in liquid medium. As a result of extension of micropropagation experiments in liquid culture system, the up-scaling of nodal explants in 5 liter capacity airlift stirred tank bioreactor exhibited 80% response in terms of both axillary shoot initiation and elongation and after a 20 days culture duration 295.95 gm (F. wt.) biomass was harvested over 27.90 gm of initial inoculum, thus indicating a 10.5 fold increase in biomass production and thereby resulting in more numbers of nodal segments. The micropropagated plants of G. glabra were further subjected to the assessment of their genetic fidelity. In PCR amplification with a set of 20 MAP primers (MAP 01 to MAP 20) 68% monomorphism was observed in 18 randomly selected plants micropropagated under semi solid and liquid culture conditions. A narrow genetic base was observed between the sampled plants when a graphic phenogram based on similarity matrix was generated. In this way the present study provides a proficient, cost effective and practically feasible micropropagation protocol for mass multiplication of a plant of high pharmaceutical importance all over the world.