Conservation of an important montane bamboo Thamnocalamus falconeri, Hook.f.ex Munro through axillary bud proliferation

Thamnocalamus falconeri, Hook.f. ex Munro.,an important bamboo species belonging to the family Poaceae, locally known as Ringal, occurs in the hills of Uttarakhand, India. This species has been traditionally exploited by local communities to support their livelihoods.Increasing needs of the hill villages impose unsustainable pressure on natural stands of Ringal in the Uttarakhand hills and forests have been degraded. The long history of excessive cutting of Ringal from natural forests and the lack of replanting threaten villager livelihoods. Replanting is required to conserve the species. We propose a protocol for generation of planting material through axillary bud proliferation for multiplication and conservation of this species. We collected offsets/rhizomes from a natural stand of T. falconeri in the Chopta Mandal areas（Chamoli district, India）. These were planted at sites of varied elevation and fresh single nodal segments were collected from them as explants. Different sterilization treatments were assessed to combat contamination. Among these, treatment of 0.1 %Hg Cl2 followed by 5 % Na OCl, proved best. Among two cytokinin treatments, viz. BAP and Kinetin, singly or in combination, BAP alone（5 mg L-1） proved superior and resulted in 100 % bud break. BAP-supplemented MS media yielded maximum vigorous shoot formation（90 %）and maximum number of shoots（8.9）. Subculturing of shoots on the same medium with similar BAP treatment（5 mg L-1BAP） enabled continuous production of healthy shoots at similar frequency. Maximum rooting（100 %）was recorded on half-strength MS medium supplemented with 5 mg L-1IBA. Micropropagated plants were hardened and acclimatized in soil mixture（2：1：1） and then transplanted to field sites（Magra, Uttarakhand, 1,834 m）.Eight to ten months after field transplantation we recorded100 % survival of transplanted material. This micropropagation protocol could be used successfully for raising a stock of genetically homogenous plant material in bulk for field plantations and for conservation of the species.

Study on Major Factors Influencing the Proliferation and Growth of Aseptic Buds of Vietnam Mesona blumes

[Objective]This study aimed to investigate the major factors influencing the proliferation and growth of aseptic buds of Vietnam Mesona blumes,thus providing technical references for establishing rapid propagation system in vitro of Vietnam M.blumes.[Method]The effects of medium components（different basic medium,sucrose concentrations and cytokinins）and explant materials（different explants）on the proliferation of aseptic buds of Vietnam M.blumes were analyzed.[Result]Among MS,Miller and modified White basic medium,MS medium exhibited the best effect on proliferation of Vietnam M.blumes buds with the bud proliferation multiple of 8.53.Among different sucrose concentrations,20.0 g/L sucrose gave the highest bud proliferation multiple of 8.34,while 25.0 g/L sucrose led to the best growth status with the bud proliferation multiple of 7.05.The effect of CPPU on bud proliferation was higher than that of 6-BA and KT,with the bud proliferation multiple of 9.80.Among different explants,top stem exhibited the best effect on bud proliferation with the bud proliferation multiple of 9.35,resulting in robust seedlings.[Conclusion]The most suitable subculture medium for the proliferation and growth of aseptic buds of Vietnam M.blumes is MS＋20.0-25.0 g/L sucrose＋0.5 mg/L CPPU and the most suitable explant is top stem.