In vitro propagation of endemic and endangered Muscari mirum from different explant types

A protocol for in vitro propagation of Muscari mirum Speta, an endangered geophyte of the family Hyacinthaceae, was developed. Bulb scale, scape, leaf, and immature embryo explants were cultured on different nutrient media compositions supplemented with various concentrations of plant growth regulators (BAP, NAA, TDZ, Picloram, 2,4-D). Scape explants produced callus only. Higher numbers of bulblets were obtained from bulb scale explants than embryo explants. The highest percentage of the bulb formation (23.50 per explant) were obtained from bulb scale explants consisting of 4 scale segments cultured on Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with 4 mg L-1 6-benzylaminopurine (BAP) and 0.25 mg L-1 alpha- naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA) after 5 months of culture initiation. Rooted bulblets which were more than 5 mm in diameter were transplanted into potting mixture of soil, vermiculite and perlite (1:1:1). The chromosome number of the root cells of in vitro induced bulblets was diploid 2n = 18.