In vitro plant regeneration of lotus (Nelumbo nucifera)

In this study, an efficient and reproducible plant regeneration system for lotus (Nelumbo nucifera Gaertn.) was established using shoot apical meristems from the buds and one-week-old aseptically germinated embryos as explants. Multiple shoot clumps were induced on Murashige and Skoog (MS) basal medium supplemented with various combinations of N6-Benzylaminopurine (6-BA) and α-Naphthalene acetic acid (NAA). The maximum response was obtained with 2.22 μM 6-BA, and produced 21.33 shoots per explant after four weeks. After five subcultures, multiple shoot clumps were transferred to MS basal medium supplemented with various combinations of 3-Indolebutyric acid (IBA), NAA and sucrose for root induction. After four weeks, plantlets with well-developed roots were achieved on MS basal medium supplemented with 0.54 μM NAA and 30 g/L sucrose with 100% rooting rate. The successfully acclimated plantlets were transferred to pots with the addition of 2 g/L KMnO4 into the soils, and finally fertile plants with much bigger leaves were obtained in the greenhouse. The survival rate was 97.33%.