Tissue culture and clonal propagation of Gastrodia elata

Object To develop a new method for the culturing of Gastrodia B1 in vitro, which may provide the theoretical basis of clonal propagation for its rapid reproduction Methods The small stem tubers and the stem buds were used as explants to culture in vitro under sterile conditions In the 1/2 MS medium containing 6 BA 1 mg/L, NAA 0 5 mg/L and banana 50 mg/L, the small stem tuber was induced to form protocorm In the 1/2 MS medium containing 6 BA 2 mg/L and NAA 0 2 mg/L, the stem bud was induced to form protocorm Results Each stem tuber formed a new protocorm within 50 d, which can be separated again to form rosette protocorm within 70 d The stem bud was cultured in vitro to form the protocorm within 140 d The protocorm bloomed within 160 d Conclusion The protocorm of G elata may be induced from the stem tuber and stem bud By subdividing these rosette protocorms a virtually indefinite clonal propagation can be achieved