In vitro propagation from bud and apex explants of Moringa oleifera and evaluation of the genetic stability with RAMP marker

Abstract

Moringa oleifera is the best known species of the Moringaceae family attributed with several medicinal uses and a high nutritional value. This plant is native of the western sub-Himalayan and now is distributed worldwide. The conventional way to propagate Moringa is by seeds, causing its growth to be slow. An alternative to propagate plants in less time and greater number is through plant tissue culture (PTC), which broadly refers to cultivation of plant cells, tissue and organs on artificial medium under aseptic and controlled environmental conditions. Therefore, in this study, an effective system for mass propagation of M. oleifera and the genetic stability with RAMP marker has been implemented. For the propagation, explant of buds and apices of the cotyledon node was used in MS medium and without Plant Growth Regulators (PGR). During indirect regeneration, the best treatment corresponded to the combination of 1 mg L− 1 BA and 0.2 mg L− 1 AIA, which had a maximum of 14 buds per explant; with the same treatment, but using leaves as explants there was mass production of roots. Acclimatization and ground transference of plants into the soil had 95% survival average. DNA from leaves propagated and regenerated and ex vitro plants were used to study genetic variability through Random Amplified Microsatellite Polymorphism (RAMP); the dendrogram of this assay did not show any significant variation between the plants. The in vitro propagation protocols developed here would be useful to obtain mass plants in less time and enhance propagation.