Effects of explant and plant growth regulators on callus induction and shoot formation in Narcissus tazetta L

\Narcissus tazetta L., belonging to Amaryllidacea, is an endemic species to Iran. Beautiful flowers of this plant in autumn and winter, in addition to the ornamental value, have high medicinal value due to the aromatic properties and essential oil production. Thus, the rapid proliferation and production of many plants of the mentioned species in a short time is considered. Conventional propagation relies upon bulb division method which is a costfull & time consuming method. In vitro micropropagation of Narcissus tazetta is of utmost importance in callus induction and extraction medicinal compounds from callus and production of complete plantlets for ornamental and medicinal uses. In this research, the possibility of callus induction from different explants of Narcissus tazetta and possibility of plant propagation using bulb explants were investigated. The effects of BA with NAA or 2. 4-D at different concentrations in MS medium were evaluated for callus induction of Narcissus tazetta through twin scale or leaf plate explants. Adventitious shoots were induced on twin- scale explants taken from the basal plate region of bulbs on MS medium containing BA with IBA or NAA. All media were supplemented with 30 gl־¹ Sucrose & 8 gl־¹ Agar. For callus induction, cultures were maintained in dark at 25 ºc and for shoot formation 16 h light and 8 h dark at 25ºc were used. Based on the results, 35% of twin- scale explants produced callus with the average of 8 mm diameter. Callus was not produced in leaf scale explants. The highest number of shoots (2) with elongated stems (5 mm lenght) were obtained in twin- scales cultured in MS medium with 2 mgl־¹ BA + 1 mgl־¹ IBA. In this treatment, regeneration rate of the explants was 50%.