Establishment of hairy root culture and production of secondary metabolites in Coleus (Coleus forskohlii)

Production of hairy roots through transformation and in vitro culture was attempted in Coleus using MTCC 2364 strain of Agrobacterium rhizogenes. Nodal stem part and mature leaf were used as explants. The nodal stem part responded with huge amount of root production. From the nodal part first 3 to 4cm long shoot emergence took place and after that within 12 days roots started emerging from base of node. If the shoot portion was cut and transferred to new MS basal medium it started producing root within 5 days. The confirmation of transformation of plant was done by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) with rolA gene primer. It showed 400 bp band. The hairy root recorded the highest amount of forskolin in comparison with any other plant part. Key words: Coleus, hairy roots, transformation, primer, Agrobacterium rhizogenes.