Micropropagation of three Calamus species with emphasis on somatic embryogenesis

The main points of the research activity on micropopagation of rattans by tissue culture at the Plant Biotechnology Laboratory are reported here. Micropoagation is achieved both through shoot production and somatic embryogenesis. The first technique can be applied to induce the production of multiple shoots on explants derived either from seedlings or outdoor plants. The somatic embryogenesis is particularly useful for single stem species such as Calamus manan. Explants from both roots and leaves were used in this approach to generate bipolar embryos. The achievements and difficulties obtained with these methods in the Laboratory are discussed in tis paper.