Effect of medium composition on in vitro direct organogenesis of Miscanthus x giganteus

Abstract

Miscanthus x giganteus J. M. Greef, Deuter ex Hodkinson from the Poaceae family, belongs to C4 type of plants, is the most cultivated species with respect to biomass production. The advantage of Miscanthus x giganteus is undoubted of its high biomass, high productivity in cold climates, low requirement for fertilizers and pesticides, of its resistance to diseases and pests, capacity to grow in marginal land areas. Market demand for Miscanthus is rapidly increasing. In commercial use Miscanthus plants have been micropropagated by the in vitro tillering method as it costs less than traditional rhizome propagation. The objective of the present investigation was to evaluate the effect of different media and growth regulators on in vitro direct organogenesis and shoot proliferation of Miscanthus x giganteus. Research was carried out in Institute of Biology and Plant Biotechnology of Agriculutre Academy of Vytautas Magnus University in 2017-2018. Segments of Miscanthus x giganteus internodes were cultivated on Murashige and Skoog (MS) and Woody Plant Medium (WPM) media supplemented with different concentrations of BAP, ISR and IAR. Our results showed that on the WPM medium without growth regulators shoot formation frequency and shoot number per explant were significantly higher in comparison with MS medium without growth regulators. In the presence of growth regulators, the highest shoot proliferation frequency (48.75 %) with highest shoot number (24.06) per explant have been obtained on the WMP medium supplemented with 3.0 mg l-1 BAP + 0.4 mg l-1 ISR + 0.01 mg l-1 IAR. While on the MS medium the combination of 4.0 mg l-1 BAP + 0.4 mg l-1 ISR + 0.01 mg l-1 IAR resulted in the highest shoot proliferation frequency (16.5 %) with highest shoot number (9.45) per explant.