Somatic Embryogenesis and Genetic Fidelity Study of the Micropropagated Medicinal Species, Canna indica

Canna indica Linn. (Cannaceae) is used both as medicine and food. Traditionally, various parts of C. indica are exploited to treat blood pressure, dropsy, fever, inflammatory diseases etc. However, to date there is no reliable micropropagation protocol for C. indica. We present here a regeneration technique C. indica with banana micropropagation medium (BM). BM supplemented with 3% sucrose, 0.7% agar, and 0.17% NH4NO3 and different plant growth regulators like BAP (2 mg·L−1) and NAA (0.5 mg·L−1) was found to be effective in inducing callus. BM with BAP (2 mg·L−1) was ideal for somatic embryogenesis and plantlet regeneration. After a period of 3 months, regenerated plantlets were successfully transferred to the field conditions. Appearance of somaclonal variation among the regenerated plants is a common problem which was assessed by DNA fingerprinting. To detect genetic fidelity in C. indica, RAPD and ISSR markers were employed. Ten RAPD primers produced 60 amplicons, while 7 ISSR primers generated 45 bands in both in vitro plantlets and mother plants. RAPD and ISSR analyses showed no evidence of polymorphism between parent plants and the regenerated plants as all the amplified products were found to be monomorphic.