AN EFFICIENT IN VITRO PLANTLET REGENERATION OF Ceratophyllum demersum L., AN IMPORTANT MEDICINAL AQUATIC PLANT

Ceratophyllum demersum L. is an important medicinal plant and has been traditionally used in the treatment of many human illnesses. Also, it is one of the major aquatic plants used for removing heavy metals in water environments. The present study was designed for efficient in vitro propagation of C. dernersum using shoot tip, 1st and 2nd nodal meristem explants. The explants were cultured on liquid Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with different concentrations of thidiazuron (TDZ) (0.05-0.80 mg/L). Comparing the all explants, the 1st nodal explant cultured on MS medium containing 0.40 mg/L TDZ had the most number (138.44) of shoots per explant. In terms of shoot length, shoot tip explant cultured on MS medium containing 0.40 mg/L TDZ was recorded as the most effective explant (1.93 cm). Thereafter, the stem explants (approximate to 2.0 cm long) cut from regenerated shoots were cultured on liquid MS medium containing 0.10-0.80 mg/L GA(3) to investigate the effect of GA3 on shoot elongation. The highest shoot length (16.08 cm) was obtained from MS containing 0.80 mg/L GA(3). Rooting experiments were not done due to naturally rootless of C. demersum. Elongated plants were successfully acclimatized in aquariums (100%).