Micropropagation of Homalomena pineodora Sulaiman & Boyce (Araceae): A new species from Malaysia

Abstract

Homalomena pineodora (family Araceae) is a species found to have impressive foliage characteristics which remain evergreen throughout the year. Therefore, H. pineodora can be grown as an ornamental plant. Generally H. pineodora needs 3-5 years to propagate and multiply. However, the demand for new ornamental plants is increasing worldwide and the quality of planting material is a basic need for boosting productivity. Therefore an efficient micropropagation protocol for large-scale production of H. pineodora was developed. In vitro shoot cultures were initiated from the rhizomatous buds on MS basal medium. The best conditions for propagating H. pineodora was found to be MS medium supplemented with 3% sucrose and 0.5 mg L-1 BA (6-benzyladenine) under 24 h of cool fluorescent light which produced an average of 3.8 shoot per explant. Presence of an auxin was not necessary for plantlet production. Liquid MS medium supplemented with 0.5 mg L-1 BA, enhanced the shoot production of H. pineodora as compared to agar-gelled medium with same composition. All the in vitro plantlets of H. pineodora were successfully acclimatized with 100% survival rate. Scanning electron microscopy confirmed the similarity of leaf microstructures between the in vitro and mother plants of H. pineodora.