An efficient in vitro propagation system for purple cone flower (echinacea purpurea l)

Abstract

An efficient in vitro propagation culture system was developed for purple coneflower. In the system, adventitious buds were first regenerated from leaf, petiole and root explants of aseptic seedlings on MS medium with 0.3 mg/l BA and 0.01 mg/l NAA, and then these adventitious buds were rooted and grown into more mature plantlets on MS media with 0.01 mg/l NAA for providing more explant materials for a subsequent adventitious bud regeneration culture. It was found that explants taken from plantlets of different maturity had different adventitious bud regeneration ability, with those from two and a half months old plantlets having the highest regeneration ability, and with root explants having the highest number of adventitious buds regenerated. Through this culture system, it was possible to obtain at least one million plantlets ready for transplantation within one year.