Standardisation of Surface Sterilization Procedures for Micropropagation in Heliconia Stricta Var. Iris Bannochie

S. Sudha*, Anusha Bhaskar and Suba S. Nair

Department of Biotechnology and Bioinformatics, Dhanalakshmi Srinivasan College of Arts and Science for Women, Perambalur - 621 212 India.

Corresponding Author E-mail:sudhabtsekar@gmail.com

ABSTRACT: Heliconia also popularly known as lobster-claw wild plantain or false bird of paradise. Heliconias are plants of commercial interest as garden or cut flowers. Heliconia flowers are actually highly modified leaves and bracts. Heliconia come in two main orientations erect and pendent. The flowering stems are mostly pendulous. The micro propagation of Heliconia to produce healthy propagates. The explants were then washed under running tap water to remove surface contaminants. Various treatments were given to sterilize the explants of Heliconia because of high degree of contaminant load. To obtain contamination free culture, the following five treatments were tried out. The experiments were conducted using the rhizome explants of Heliconia stricta var. Iris bannochie; to study the effectiveness of sterilization procedures using various sterilants given in varying concentrations and exposure durations. In the present study three sterilizing agents viz ethanol, NaOCl and HgCl2 were used, giving varying exposure time and concentrations. The survival rate was very low due to long exposure time of the sterilizing agents. It leads to gradual darkening of the explants until death, may be due to oxidation.

KEYWORDS: Heliconia stricta; Ornamental market; micropropagation

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