Differentiation in Callus Cultures of Leaf of Two Species of Trigonella

Callusing of leaf segment of Trigonella corniculata L. and Trigonelta foenum graecum L. was observed on Murashige and Skoog's (MS) medium and White's (W) medium supplemented with naphthalene acetic acid (NAA; 0.5 mg/1) and coconut milk (15% v/v). Root, shoot and development of isolated leaf occurred in the calli of both the species on MS medium containing NAA amd coconut milk. Omission of coconut milk with subsequent addition of casein hydrolysale (CH) increased the number of differentiated organs per callus. In both the materials higher differentiation rate was observed at low irradiance than at high irradiance or in complete darkness. Initially the cells were diploid but at the 5th passage the calli became mixoploid wilh predominantly diploid cell populations. The differentiated organs were diploid.