Somatic embryogenesis and plant regeneration in Acanthopanax senticosus

Mature embryos of Acanthopanax senticosus explanted on Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium with 0.5 mg/1 2,4-D developed somatic embryos directly from swollen cotyledon and embryo axes within one to two months. When the somatic embryos were transferred to medium supplemented with 2,4-D (0.5 mg/1) or IAA (1–3 mg/1) or Zeatin (0.5 mg/1) and NAA (0.2 mg/1), additional somatic embryos developed. Most (93%) embryos germinated on the above medium without 2,4-D. Sixty-two percent of the plantlets survived in soil. Histological observations revealed that the somatic embryos originated from cell masses of epidermal and sub-epidermal origin. There was no cytological separation zone between the somatic embryos and cultured expiants. Consequently, embryos were difficult to separate from their expiant tissue.