Highly efficient in vitro regeneration, establishment of callus and cell suspension cultures and RAPD analysis of regenerants of Swertia lawii Burkill.

Highly efficient in vitro regeneration system has been developed for Swertia lawii Burkill, an important herb used as substitute for Swertia chirayita. Shoot tips explants were cultured on MS medium with various phytohormones for multiple shoot production. The best shoot production frequency (100%) and maximum shoots (10.4 ± 0.8) were obtained on MS media containing TDZ (3.0 mg l-1) in combination with IBA (0.3 mg l-1). Maximum callus induction (95 ± 4.8%) and callus growth (1.7 ± 0.4 gm) was achieved on MS medium with 2, 4-D (3.0 mg l-1). Cell suspension cultures were established and studied for their growth kinetics. Shoots were rooted best (22.1 ± 2.5) in 1/2 MS medium with IAA (3.0 mg l-1). The genetic uniformity of the micropropagated clones was assessed using RAPD markers. Out of 405 bands, 400 (98.76%) were monomorphic and rest 5 (1.24%) were polymorphic. High multiplication frequency and low risk of genetic instability ensures the efficacy of this protocol.