In-vitro culture of Hevea brasiliensis (rubber tree) embryo

Abstract

In the time past, grafting buds from selected clones on seedlings or plants from seed orchards were used traditionally to propagate rubber trees. Selected seeds were frequently used because their level of resistance to diseases is known. Micro-propagation of rubber tree was the method used in the propagation of Hevea brasiliensis in this experiment, which is an approach different from the conventional way of planting rubber and this technique holds good prospect for the future. In-vitro culture of H. brasiliensis (rubber tree) embryo was carried out using different concentrations of benzylaminopurine (BAP) and 0.01 mg/l concentration of naphthalene acetic acid (NAA) to supplement the murashige and skoog’s (MS) medium. In this experiment, shoot and root were obtained from the embryo culture on Murashige and Skoog’s (MS) medium supplemented with 0.075 mg/l BAP and 0.001 mg/l NAA. This treatment produced rubber plantlets with well-developed taproots. Using the same concentration of NAA and a BAP concentration slightly higher or lower than 0.075 mg/l, the H. brasiliensisembryos produced shoots and lateral roots alone. Embryo cultured in different strength of murashige and skoog’s medium (full strength, half strength M/2 and quarter strength M/4) without hormones did not produce taproot. This experiment was unable to achieve mass propagation of rubber plantlets. All the treatment used in the experimentation of H. brasiliensis embryo in culture contains 30 g/l sucrose and 7 g/l difco agar.   Key words: Hevea brasiliensis, embryo, micro-propagation, in-vitro culture, plantlets.