A procedure for sterilising leaf explants collected from wild neem (Azadirachta Indica) trees

Abstract

Experiments conducted to find suitable sterilisation procedures for neem explants collected from trees growing in the wild showed that they could not be sterilised by the method for leaves collected from the trees reared in the laboratory (10% NaOCl for 10 min.) but required more rigorous sterilisation methods. Leaf explants collected from the trees growing in the wild could not be sterilised using different concentrations of NaOCl ( 10%, 15% 20% & 25%), HgCl2 (0.1%, 0.5%, & 1%) for different time intervals (5, 10, 15, 20 and 30 mins) but could be sterilised by combining HgCl2 and NaOCl (0.1% HgCl2 for 5 min followed by 10% NaOCl for 10 min). Leaf damage was observed when 70% ethanol was used as a pre-treatment.