Shoot induction of abrus precatorius

Abstract

Abrus precatorius is valuable herb due to its medicinal properties. To date, there are several shoot regeneration studies of local A. precatorius have been reported. However, percentage of shoot regenerated from nodal explants was very low (70%). Therefore, the study aimed to investigate surface-sterilization method, seed germination percentage and shoot induction percentage of A. precatorius. The seeds were surface-sterilized with different concentrations of Clorox (v/v) (30%, 60% and 100%) and the percentage of seed germination on different MS strength (full, half and quarter) were also investigated. Nodal explants were treated with different concentrations of TDZ and BAP to induce shoot. The results showed that 100% survived explants was obtained at 100% (v/v) Clorox. For seed germination, the highest germination percentage was achieved when seeds cultured at half strength MS (96%). The result also indicated that both full MS and half MS had better percentage of seed germination than quarter MS. For shoot induction assessment, the highest shoot induction (100% shoot induction percentage) was achieved when nodal explants were placed on MS fortified with 0.5 mg/L TDZ with 3.05 shoots per explant. In comparison, 0.5 mg/L TDZ gave higher shoot induction percentage than 2.5 mg/L BAP. In conclusion, TDZ produced higher percentage of shoot induction than BAP from nodal segments of A. precatorius.