Adventitious shoot regeneration and micropropagation in Calendula officinalis L.

Hypocotyl, cotyledon and cotyledonary node explants of Calendula officinalis L were cultured on Murashige and Skoog ( MS) media supplemented with various concentrations of thidiazuron (TDZ), kinetin ( KIN), alpha-naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA) and indole-3-butyric acid ( IBA) to induce adventitious shoot regeneration and micropropagation. The highest frequency of adventitious shoot regeneration was achieved from hypocotyl and cotyledon explants on MS media supplemented with 0.75 mg dm(-3) TDZ and either 0.25 or 0.50 mg dm(-3) IBA. Efficient in vitro clonal propagation was also induced from cotyledonary nodes on a range of media supplemented with 0.75 mg dm(-3) TDZ and 0.05 mg dm(-3) NAA or 2 mg dm(-3) KIN and 1 mg dm(-3) NAA. Regenerated shoots were excised and rooted in MS medium supplemented with 1 mg dm(-3) NAA. The rooted plantlets were finally transferred to pots.