Drumstick Plant Population Responses to Culture Media in Callus Induction and Regeneration

Drumstick (Moringa peregrina (Forssk). Fiori) is one of the valuable tropical forest tree species. It is endangered since long time ago، due to its particular characteristics، extensive seed harvesting and weak regeneration. This research was conducted in order to investigate the effects of several culturing media on micropropagation of three plant populations of the species and their interaction effects. Immature seeds collected from Chanf، Benet and Kenshki located in Sistan and Baluchestan province، Iran، were used to perform the study. Buds of germinated seeds were aseptically grown on eight combinations of two basic culture media، MS and half- MS and various concentrations of BA and 2iP hormones. Several characteristics were recorded on the produced plantlets. The plantlets rooted on two successive rooting media and planted on a mixture of pit and vermiculite. A few samples of the studied plant populations showed strong regenerative callus induction. Analysis of variance revealed significant differences between the studied populations on number of branches، active bud numbers، callus volume، and length of the longest branches on the plantlets. Moreover، a significant difference at one percent of probability was observed between the studied growing media based on the majority of the studied characteristics. It seems the reduction of the concentration of macronutrients of growing medium would lead to significant increment of shoot production on the species. Regarding the different origins of the studied plant samples، the effect of different genotypes on callus induction was clearly observed.