Quantitative and Morphological Effect of Plant Growth Regulators on Callus Initiation from Leaves and Roots Explants of Artemisia annua L.

To study the effect of some plant growth regulators on the in vitro initiation of callus using the leaves and roots explants of Artemisia annua. The experiment was arranged in a completely randomized design with 2 replicates. Morphologically leaf explants culture in media having the composition MS Basal + NAA (2.0mg/l) + BA(1.0 mg/l) shows best results as compared to all other media. However in roots shows no growth in all the media composition. On the other hand media having a composition (MS Basal + 2,4-D(1.0mg/l) + Kn (0.1mg/l)) with growth hormone antagonist shows no callus formation neither in leaf or roots. Our studies are also supported by the HPLC results about the artemisinin content in leaf in media having the composition MS Basal + NAA (2.0mg/l) + BA(1.0 mg/l) is 0.052% and least in media a composition (MS Basal + 2,4-D(1.0mg/l) + Kn (0.1mg/l)) have only 0.012%. On the other hand, we didn’t found any artemisinin content in the root explants in all the media. Our present study suggest that Benzyl adenine (BA) could be used as a promising growth hormone in tissue culture.