Micropropagation of endemic Astragalus trojanus stev. with nodal culture

The clonal propagation with nodal cultures of the medicinal endemic plant species Astragalus trojanus Stev. was aimed in this study. Seeds were germinated in Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium, and the nodal segments obtained from seedlings were used as an explant. Firstly, the effects of MS and (Woody Plant Medium) WPM nutrient media on shoot multiplication were investigated. The explants were cultured in MS or WPM nutrient media containing at different concentrations (0.2, 0.5, 1.0, 2.0 mg L-1) 6-benzyl amino purine (BAP). After 4 weeks from culture, the highest number of shoots (2.80 number/explant) was obtained in WPM medium containing 0.5 mg L-1 BAP. Nodal segments were cultured in WPM medium containing different concentrations of BAP, thidiazuron (TDZ), kinetin (KIN) (0.2, 0.5, 1.0, 2.0 mg L-1) to determine the effect of cytokinin source and concentrations on shoot multiplication. At the end of 4 weeks, it was determined that TDZ and KIN had similar effect on number of shoots. The highest number of shoots (2.09 number/explant) was obtained from WPM media containing BAP. Regenerated shoots were transferred to WPM media containing 1 or 3 mg L-1 indole-3-butyric acid (IBA), naphtalene acetic acid (NAA) or indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) for rooting. After 4 weeks from culture, the most root number (4.33 number/explant) were obtained from the WPM medium containing 3 mg L-1 IAA, while the highest rooting percentage was obtained from WPM medium containing 3 mg L-1 IBA with 80%. Rooted seedlings were transferred to plastic cups containing peat and perlite in a ratio of 1:1 and successfully acclimatized. Plant culture was completed at 15 weeks. The effective clonal propagation method was described for the endemic species Astragalus trojanus Stev.