In vitro Germination and Early Seedling Growth of Zinnia elegans

• Published in: Research journal of environmental sciences Vol. 4; no. 4; pp. 407 - 413
• Main Authors: Mahmoodzad, H., Abbasi, F., Rohani, S.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 01.04.2010
• ISSN: 1819-3412
• DOI: 10.3923/rjes.2010.407.413

In vitro seeds germination and plantlet establishment of Zinnia elegans were studied in this report. The seeds of Z. elegans were sterilized and cultured on Murashige and Skoog (MS) solid media supplemented with 1-3 mu M of 6-benzylaminopurine (BAP) or Kinetin (KIN) and 3% (w/v) sucrose. The presence of KIN in the medium significantly affects seeds germination. High percentage of seeds germination (up to 90%) was successfully achieved after 3 days of culture on medium supplemented with 1 mu M KIN. The average of 3.8 leaves per explant obtained on media treated with 3 mu M BAP. Result showed that medium supplemented with 2 mu M KIN promote the highest growth with an average of 2.72 cm shoot length and 1.6 cm root length after 3 weeks. In addition, medium added with 2 mu M BAP and supplemented with 3-4% (w/v) of sucrose promote the best growth i.e., 8.6 mm leaf length. In conclusion, present results showed that it is possible to improve the production of Zinnia elegans plants in vitro with using different cytokinins and carbon sources.