S Padma
Bangalore University, India
Title: Role of plant tissue culture in conservation and reintroduction of Sauropus androgynous (L.) Merr.
Biography
Biography: S Padma
Abstract
In order to bring about sustainable resource conservation, management and improvement of useful medicinal plants, it is essential to adopt different economical approaches. One such basic approach includes plant tissue culture which forms an integral part of any plant biotechnological activity. In this regard one of the most important Southeast Asian plant Sauropous andrgynous was subjected to few tissue culture procedures in order to conserve and reintroduce its improved version. Recent advances in the development of protocols for in vitro culture and genetic manipulation have provided new avenues for the development of novel varieties of Sauropus androgynous. S. androgynous is a member of Euphorbiaceae, popularized as multivitamin plant and consumed as green leafy vegetable due to its rich nutritional profile including proteins, vitamins, minerals, essential amino acids, etc. The plant is cautioned for excessive consumption due to the presence of Papaverine alkaloid which at higher concentration leads to Bronchiolitis obliterans. Optimized techniques of nodal cultures on Murashige and Skoog’s and Phillips and Collins media with various growth regulators has supplemented the conventional propagation methods in commercial production resulting in availability of improved Sauropus through both organogenesis and somatic embryogenesis. The development of regeneration systems for S. androgynous has opened possibilities for developing genotypes with novel characters including low quantity Papaverine content which has facilitated conventional improvement programs thereby providing a valuable resource to the food a pharmaceutical industry. Based on this research, plant tissue culture techniques show promise for economical and convenient application in Sauropus androgynous breeding.