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IMPROVEMENT OF SEED GERMINATION AND IN VITRO PROPAGATION OF A MULTIPURPOSE PLATEAU SHRUB SPECIES SOPHORA MOORCROFTIANA

YARU FU1,2,3, WEIJIE YAO1,2,3, SHAOKE LI1,2,3 AND HUIE LI1,4*

1Agricultural and Animal Husbandry College, Tibet University, Nyingchi, Tibet 860000, People’s Republic of China

2Key Laboratory of Forest Ecology in Tibet Plateau (Tibet University), Ministry of Education, Nyingchi, 

Tibet, 860000, People’s Republic of China

3National Key Station for Field Scientific Observation & Experiment, Nyingchi, Tibet, 860000, 

People’s Republic of China

4College of Agriculture, Guizhou University, Guiyang, Guizhou, 550025, People’s Republic of China

*Correspondence author’s email: lihuiesh@126.com

Abstract

Sophora moorcroftiana (Benth.) Baker (Fabaceae) with blue flowers is a shrub species in Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. This species is an important ornamental, ecological and economical species mainly distributed in the wide valleys of Yarlung Tsangpo and Lhasa River. It contains strong drought, solar radiation and sand burial resistance. However, it is on the verge of extinction because of over-exploitation in recent years, seedling production is a bottleneck in this plant’s development, and information is lacking on an In vitro propagation system for S. moorcroftiana. Therefore, an effective propagation technique is urgently needed. In the present study, S. moorcroftiana seed germinations both In vitro and on an open moistened filter paper were significantly improved. The best germination percentage (88.67±0.67) and percentage of cotyledons presented (69.67±0.33) were obtained when the seeds were placed in moistened filter paper for 30 d after treatment with 98% concentration sulphuric acid for 70 min, and then treated with either Gibberellic acid (GA3) 100 mg L-1 or 500 mg L-1. Besides, an In vitro propagation system was developed for this species, the impacts of various media combined with different plant growth regulators (PGR) on multiple shoots proliferation were evaluated. The result showed Woody Plant Medium (WPM) supplemented with 1.0 mg L-1 N6-Benzyladenine (BA) and 0.2 mg L-1 α-Naphthalene acetic acid (NAA) was found to be optimum for production of multiple shoots (89.33% shoot regeneration frequency and 18.67 shoots per explant) using cotyledonary node. The best rooted medium for regenerated shoots (89.72%, 4.68 roots per shoot) was half-strength Murashige and Skoog (1/2 MS) supplemented with 0.5 mg L−1 indole-3-butyric acid (IBA) and 0.02 mg L−1 NAA. The rooted plantlets were successfully acclimated, and survival of plantlets was 75% after transfer to soil. These results could be applied to rapid generation and conservation of this species in the future.

Key words: Sophora moorcroftiana; Seed germination; Cotyledonary node; Nodal explants; Plant regeneration; Plant growth regulators.