In vitro propagation of black cumin (Nıgella satıva L.) plants

This study was carried out to determine in vitro development using Black cumin leaf and stem explants. ?ameli black cumin variety was used as plant material. Five different nutrient mediums (1. LS2.5, 2. MS, 3. MS + 0.5 mg.l-1 IAA, 4. MS + 0.5 mg.l-1 BAP, 5. MS + 0.5 mg.l-1 IAA + 0.5 mg.l-1 BAP) containing 30 g sugar were used in this study. As a result of the research, 100% callus formation was detected in the stem explants cultured in the number 1 and number 5 mediums. These were followed by stem explants cultured in medium 4 with a success rate of 96%. Of this rate, 66% was shoot formation, and 30% was callus formation. Direct shoot regeneration was performed only on stem explants cultured in mediums 4 and 3, with a 66% success rate in medium four and a 36% success rate in medium 3. The highest plant regenerations from calluses were gained from stem explants (273.3%) in medium 4, followed by calluses gained from leaf explants (262.5%) in the same medium. These were followed by cultures in medium 3, with calluses derived from stem explants (255%) and leaf explants (150%). No plant regeneration was determined from calluses gained in the medium 1. Thus it is evident that high auxin content and auxin-cytokinin balanced mediums encouraged callus formation in the black cumin plants. The addition of only IAA or BAP to the medium promoted shoot formation in the stem explants, but direct shoot regeneration was not thereby achieved from the leaf explants. These results show that, for in vitro clonal propagation studies done on black cumin plants, a high auxin containing medium is preferable if the aim is callus formation. If the aim is direct shoot regeneration, BAP or other cytokinin-containing medium is preferred.