Micropropagation of the Endangered Medicinal Orchid, Dendrobium officinale

The endangered medicinal orchid, Dendrobium officinale, has low reproductive capacity in its natural environment and its wild resources are exceedingly scarce. Domestication, including development of rapid propagation methods, is needed urgently to satisfy human demand for its medicinal products. This study developed optimized micropropagation methods for D. officinale by testing the effects of tissue culture media and additives on shoot proliferation and rooting. The optimal proliferation medium for D. officinale was ½ Murashige and Skoog (MS) with 2.0 mg L-1 benzyladenine (BA) + 0.1 mg L-1 naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA) + 100 g L-1 potato extract. A rooting medium composed of ½ MS + 0.2 mg L-1 BA + 1.0 mg L-1 NAA provided 100% rooting. These methods allow reliable mass-production of D. officinale for medicinal purposes