Effect of Agar, MS Medium Strength, Sucrose and Polyamines on in vitro Rooting of Syzygium Alternifolium

This paper describes the effect of agar, MS basal medium strength, sucrose and polyamines on the in vitro rooting of Syzygium alternifolium realized by a two step procedure involving root initiation (RI) and root elongation (RE). RI was carried out on solidified MS medium supplemented with 1.0 mg dm⁻³ indole-3-butyric acid (IBA) for 3 weeks, and RE following transfer to half-strength MS medium devoid of growth regulators for another 3 weeks. Agar and MS basal medium concentrations played important role on rooting response as well as on health of rooted shoots. Sucrose concentration was positively correlated with the rooting percentage, root number per shoot and root length. The combination of polyamines and 1.0 mg dm⁻³ IBA increases rooting percentage compared to media containing only 1.0 mg dm⁻³ IBA. Optimum rooting was attained with half-strength MS medium containing 1.0 mg dm⁻³ IBA, 2 % sucrose, 10 μM spermine and 0.8 % agar. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.