In vitro direct and indirect regeneration of plants from nodal and petiole explants in Pelargonium odoratissimum (L.) Herit.

Nodal and petiole explants were employed to study the direct and indirect regeneration from Pelargonium odoratissimum in vitro. Direct shoots regeneration of nodal segments was tried in MS medium containing 1 and 2 mg l-1 BAP and 0.5 mg l-1 IBA. The highest mean shoots number and the greatest shoots per explant number were obtained in the medium containing 2 mg l-1 BAP. Nodal segments were the source of petiole explants and the resulting petioles were cultured in ½ MS medium supplemented by 1, 1.5, 2 and 4.5 mg l-1 BAP enriched with 0.1, 1 and 1.5 mg l-1 NAA. With the petiole explants, the lowest browning percentage, the highest callus induction and also, the top number of shoots per explant were recorded in 2 mg l-1 BAP + 0.1 mg l-1 NAA medium. The medium supplemented with 0.2 mg l-1 NAA exhibited the desired effect on rooting percentage and mean root number and length. The rooted young plants were transferred to the pots containing peat-moss and perlite (1:1) and the acclimatization was successful since, more than 90 % of plants adapted-well in the greenhouse conditions. This in-vitro propagation methodology would be advisable to the plant production systems and to whom wish to produce the clonal homogenous plants for the commercial ideas and for the detailed molecular studies.