EMBRYOGENIC POTENTIAL OF CALLUS DERIVED FROM AN ADULT GIANT BAMBOO (Dendrocalamus giganteus Wall. ex Munro)

Dendrocalamus giganteus Wall.ex Munro (giant bamboo), the largest of the bamboos in SriLanka, is recommended for expanded cultivation. Natural means of propagation by vegetative orsexual methods is limited in this species. In the absence of a true breeding system, novelbiotechnological methods offer a para sexual alternative for genetic improvement. This wouldrequire de novo plant regeneration via callus, cell suspensions or protoplasts. With this objectivein view, callus was induced from axillary shoots, spikelets and roots that formed in vitro in acontinuously proliferating system of axillary shoots derived from a 70 year old field clump of D.giganteus. The callus proliferated in MS medium containing 4% sucrose, 2,4-D (7.5 rngl") andNAA (3 mgl") to form nodular callus that showed a potential for plantlet re~eneration. Thefriable callus readily formed cell suspensions in the presence of 2,4-D (7.5 mgl' ) along or withNAA (3 mgl"), These cells showed organized development to form structures that resembledpro-embryos. Organogenesis/embryogenesis is novel from long established adults although it ismore common in juveniles.This report signifies the potential of a 70-year-old adult bamboo for plantlet regeneration.