Plant regeneration and genetic transformation studies in petiole tissue of himalayan poplar (Populus ciliata Wall.)

Abstract

POPLARS occupy a unique and important position in the rural economy of India. Among the indigenous poplars, Himalayan poplar, i.e. Populus ciliata is a large, deciduous, dioecious and fast-growing tree of temperate and subtemperate regions of the Himalayas. Its wood is used for making general purpose plywood, packing cases, crates, support doors, matches, artificial limbs, fine paper and newsprint. Ho wever, Himalayan poplar is severely affected by a large number of insect pests, which lead to a considerable yield loss. Secondly, high lignin content in this species makes the operational costs of de -lignification process quite expe nsive in pulp and paper industries. Being an economically important crop, application of plant tissue culture and plant genetic engineering in Himalayan poplar cultivation is of special value, to obtain improved or desired traits like disease and insect resistance and development of reduced lignin content. Efforts devoted to the use of explants of mature trees of proven worth for propagation through tissue culture technique have been limited to the work of only a few investigators 1–6