In vitro conservation of Alectra chitrakutensis: a critically endangered root parasitic plant of high medicinal importance

The present study provides an effective in vitro propagation method for critically endangered parasitic plant Alectra chitrakutensis (M.A. Rau) R. Prasad & R.D. Dixit (Scrophulariaceae). The plant comprises tremendous medicinal properties to treat many diseases such as leprosy, leucoderma, tuberculosis and paralysis. The protocol has been developed using rhizome explant on the modified Murashige and Skoog medium containing various phytohormones to raise complete plantlets without any host interaction. 0.5 mg/l kinetin and 1.0 mg/l NAA was found to be the most excellent medium combination to obtain plantlets with an average shoot length of 11 ± 1.04 cm; and 100% response for rooting. The same medium combination also supported flowering in vitro. Further, comparative molecular and chemical characterization of in vitro and in vivo grown plants were carried out by performing RAPD and HPTLC analysis, respectively, to make sure the genetic as well as chemical stability among the plants. RAPD analysis with MAP (01-20) and OPJ primers (01-20) exhibited a monomorphic band pattern which revealed the genetic similarities among the tested plants. Similarly, presence of azafrin, the most important pharmaceutically active compound in in vitro generated plants indicates the efficacy of protocol to fulfill the objective of in vitro propagation of this critically endangered plant species. Moreover, the present study is the first report towards in vitro conservation of parasitic plant A. chitrakutensis without host from the rhizome explant.