In vitro Plant Regeneration from Mature Seed Explants of Withania somnifera (L.) Dunal, an Important, Rare and Endangered Medicinal Plant

Withania somnifera (L.) Dunal a member of the Solanaceae family, is a traditional medicinal plant commonly known in India as Ashwagandha. It is used for different diseases such as hiccup, cough, rheumatism, tuberculosis, and exhibits excellent antitumor and anti-bacterial activities as well. Direct organogenesis of plants using mature seeds provides faster response and is also a time saving approach, thus the present study was conducted to investigate the optimal concentrations and combinations of plant growth regulators with MS medium for the establishment of an efficient regeneration system in W. somnifera using mature seed as an explant. Therefore, an efficient in vitro protocol for high frequency regeneration has been developed using mature seeds as explant. In the present study, the multiple shoots along with embryogenic callus induction was best seen in MS medium supplemented with BAP (1.5 mg/L) and IAA (0.5 mg/L). Furthermore, MS medium fortified with GA3 (0.3 mg/L) and IBA (3.0 mg/L) alone was suited for shoot elongation and rhizogenesis respectively. The rooted plantlets were hardened and successfully established in the soil. The establishment of a highly reproducible regeneration system would greatly influence the efforts of improvement of the hereby studied medicinal plant species through useful gene transfer technology.