EFFICIENT PLANTLET REGENERATION FROM CULTURED NODAL SEGMENT OF WITHANIA SOMNIFERA (L.) DUNAL

Nodal segment explants of two genotypes of Withania somnifera viz: JA-20 and MWS-100 were cultured on MS basal media fortified with different concentrations and combinations of diverse auxins and cytokinins as sole as well as in combinations. Considering higher in vitro response, culture medium MS2D (MS+2.0 mg.l-1 2,4-D) initiated calli in higher frequencies (80.36%). Induction medium MS3B (MS + 3.0 mg.l-1 BA) initiated shoots in higher proportion (81.74%), while shoot(s) in higher numbers (25.69) and higher length (5.88 cm) were recovered from nutrient medium MS3B.5N (MS + 3.0 mg.l-1 BA + 0.5 mg.l-1 NAA). Higher in vitro rooting response viz: root proliferating efficiency (94.86%), number of root (s) (7.32) and mean root length( 5.28 cm) was documented on rooting medium MS2IB (MS+ 2.0 mg.l-1 IBA). In terms of in vitro genotypic response genotype JA-20 was found significantly superior to MWS-100 for the most of the attributes investigated. Regenerated plantlets were established successfully in the field after hardening with normal phenotypic appearance.