In vitro rooting efficiency in Morus indica cultivars (S34, S54, M5 and Mysore-local) from in vitro shoot cultures

Development of plant tissue culture has contributed greatly to our understanding of the factors responsible for the growth and differentiation of plant cells which resulted in regenerating whole plants from the cultured material. Mulberry plant is usually heterozygous due to its cross pollination habit. Use of micropropagation as an integral component of tree improvement program has lagged behind for some important forest tree crops because of the failure to develop protocols for successful root induction. An attempt has been made to describe an efficient root induction protocol from in vitro regenerated shoots of all the mulberry cultivars (cvs. S34, S54, M5 and Mysore-local) under study. Efficient rooting 92% response was observed on MS media containing IBA with 1.0mg/l and 61% of rooting response noted on media containing 1.0mg/l IAA with mulberry cultivars (cvs. S34). The rooting ability was found to be superior in cvs. S34 when compared to other cultivars of mulberry.