Appraisal of leaf cutting, soil mixture and leaf explants on production of Sansevieria trifasciata under ex/in vitro condition

Mass propagation along with preserving the true-to-type characteristics is the goal of ornamental plants clonal propagation. Among the ornamental species, chimeric plants have always been of interest because of their attractive appearance. The mother-in-law's tongue or Sansevieria trifasciata, due to its fleshy leaves and high tolerance to adverse environmental conditions, is very suitable as an indoor plant. Since the clonal propagation of aforesaid plants are through rhizomes and offset, therefore the aim of this study was to evaluate the type of leaf cuttings and soil mixture under greenhouse conditions and also aimed to see leaf explants response under in vitro condition. The results of experiments performed in the greenhouse show that the type of leaf cuttings is ineffective in inducing chimeric plants. Cocopeat-Perlite soil mixture led to the production of more roots in regenerated plants, however, compared to Perlite, it failed to improve shoot regeneration. There was no significant difference between plants regenerated from chimeric parts of reverse V shape cuttings compared to the simple leaf cuttings. In vitro studies using the 2,4-D and kinetin revealed that the explants which were incubated for 20 days in MS media supplemented with 0.35 mg/L 2,4-D and then kinetin resulted in a higher average number of shoots. Although the use of leaf explant was not effective in inducing true chimeric shoots, some plastidial mutations were seen, leading to the production of albino plants. In vitro-induced plants were acclimated with 100% efficiency in greenhouse conditions under mist system. Overall, the results of these in/ex vitro studies failed to induce chimeric plants likely due to the de novo meristemoid induction originating from inner layers of chimeric tissues.