Effect of TDZ on Direct Shoot Regeneration from Whole Male Inflorescence of Four Diploid Banana Cultivars from South India

Male inflorescence has great potential to be used as explants for rapid micropropagation of Musa species. In this work whole inflorescence was used as the explant for the propagation. The male flower of four diploid banana cultivars namely Musa acuminata cv. Matti and M. acuminata cv. Sannachenkadali, M. acuminata cv. Chingan and Musa acuminata cv. Njalipoovan (2n= 22) belonging to diploid genome types (AA and AB) were selected for the present study. These diploid tolerant cultivars grown in south Indian states are in great demand because of their fruit quality and consumer preference. Direct shoot regeneration was achieved from whole male inflorescence which is inoculated in MS medium supplemented with varying concentrations of BA, TDZ and KIN. All the four cultivars produced the maximum number of shoots in the presence of varying concentrations of TDZ (0.45µM -13.5 µM) irrespective of their genotypes. Male inflorescence reduces the rate of contamination compared to suckers and produces a more number of shoots in culture conditions.