IN VITRO PLANT REGENERATION FROM PETIOLE-DERIVED CALLUS AND CHARACTERIZATION OF INTER SIMPLE SEQUENCE REPEAT (ISSR) MARKERS OF AMORPHOPHALLUS HEWITTII ALDER W. (ARACEAE)

The genus Amorphophallus contains many species that are sought after by collectors. A large proportion of these species do not reproduce quickly enough to satisfy the demand. Consequently, the establishment of micropropagation methods to increase the supply is desirable. Though several protocols for tissue culture do exist, these focus on species of agricultural importance that naturally reproduce vegetatively. This research demonstrated the successful in vitro reproduction of Amorphophallus hewittii Alderw., a species that is not known to reproduce vegetatively. The protocol avoided destroying the parent plant through use of petiole material. It concluded with direct transfer of shoots to soil, eliminating the in vitro rooting stage and simplifying the acclimation of plants from culture. Molecular markers based upon Inter Simple Sequence Repeat (ISSR) were developed to determine genetic stability during the tissue culture process. These markers are useful in a wide variety of investigations. Sufficient loci were found to use this technique in this species. This study reports the first successful in vitro protocol for this species and the first ISSR markers for a non-agricultural Amorphophallus species