Isolation and culture of suspension protoplasts of vetiver

In this research, protoplasts were isolated from cell suspension derived from inflorescence of vetiver (Vetiveria zizanioides Nash) Surat Thani germplasm. The optimum condition for protoplast isolation was established by using 2% cellulase Onozuka R10, 2% macerozyme R10, 0.5% pectinase in 0.4 M mannitol and 7 mM CaCl2.2H2O at pH 5.8 and incubated for 10 hours in the dark on the rotary shaker at 50 rpm. Maximum protoplast yields were 8.4 × 104 protoplasts/ml PCV. Division of protoplasts was observed only in liquid medium. The first cell division was observed after 3 days of culture initiation, and the average division was 5.0% in the N6 medium supplemented with 1.0 mg/l 2,4-D (2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid) and 0.5 mg/l BA (Benzyladenine). An optimal density for culture division was 1 × 105 protoplasts/ml