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Chlorophytum arundinaceum is an important medicinal plant and its tuberous roots are used for various health ailment treatments. It has become an endangered species in the Eastern Ghats, and a rare medicinal herb in India, due to its excessive collection from its natural habitat and its destructive harvesting techniques, coupled with poor seed germination and low vegetative multiplication ratio. In order to contribute to its production systems, an efficient protocol was developed for in vitro clonal propagation through shoot bud culture. For this, multiple shoots were induced from shoot bud explants on Murashige and Skoog's medium supplemented with 2.5-3.0mg/L BAP, 0.01-0.1mg/L NAA and 3% (w/v) sucrose. Inclusion of Adenine Sulphate (25mg/L) in the culture medium improved the frequency of multiple shoot production and recovered the chlorotic symptoms of the leaves. Media having pH 5.9 and 4% sucrose showed significant improvement on shoot bud multiplication and growth. In vitro flowering was observed when the subcultures were carried out for over four months in the same multiplication media. Rooting was readily achieved upon transferring the shoots on to half- strength MS medium supplemented with 0.1mg/L IBA and 2% (w/v) sucrose. Micropropagated plantlets were hardened in the green house, successfully established, and flowered in the field. This method could effectively be applied for the conservation and clonal propagation to meet the demand of planting materials. Rev. Biol. Trop. 59 (1): 435-445. Epub 2011 March 01. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] We developed a web based network of herbal gardens in India. [•] It is available at www.herbalgardenindia.org. [•] It is a decision making system and provides information about the herbal gardens in India. [•] It facilitates the exchange of medicinal plants planting material. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Vitex trifolia is a shrub species with popular use as a medicinal plant, for which leaves, roots and flowers have been reported to heal different distresses. The increasing exploitation of these plants has endangered its conservation, and has importantly justified the use of biotechnological tools for their propagation. Our aim was to present an efficient protocol for plant regeneration through organogenesis; and simultaneously, to analyze the genetic homogeneity of the established clonal lines by Randomly Amplified Polymorphic DNA (RAPD) and Inter Simple Sequence Repeat (ISSR) markers. Plantlet regeneration was achieved in callus cultures derived from stem, leaf and petiole explants of V. trifolia on a differently supplemented Murashige & Skoog medium, and incubated at 25±2°C under a light intensity of 61µmol/m2s from cool white fluorescent lamps and a 16h photoperiod. The rate of shoot bud regeneration was positively correlated with the concentration of hormones in the nutrient media. Shoot buds regenerated more rapidly from stem and petiole explants as compared to leaf explants on medium containing 11.10µM BAP in combination with 0.54µMNAA. Addition of 135.74-271.50µM adenine sulphate (Ads) and 0.72-1.44µM gibberellic acid (GA3) to the culture medium increased the growth of shoot buds. The highest rate of shoot bud regeneration responses was obtained in stem explants using 11.10µM BAP in combination with 0.54µM NAA, 271.50µM Ads and 1.44µM GA3. In vitro rooting of the differentiated shoots was achieved in media containing 1.23µM indole butyric acid (IBA) with 2% (w/v) sucrose. Regenerated plantlets were successfully established in soil with 86% survival under field condition. Randomly Amplified Polymorphic DNA and Inter Simple Sequence Repeat markers analyses have confirmed the genetic uniformity of the regenerated plantlets derived from the second up to fifth subcultures. This protocol may help in mass propagation and conservation of this important medicinal plant of great therapeutic potential. Rev. Biol. Trop. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A letter to the editor about gender instability in Tinospora cordifolia is presented.

Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera Dunal.) is an important medicinal plant cultivated in about 4000 ha in India. It is mainly distributed in the northwestern region of Madhya Pradesh and also in limited areas of different states. However, wild collection of the species continues to be a source of raw drug in Ayurvedic preparations. In the present communication, results of a comparative study of the wild type distributed locally in Anand, Gujarat and the superior variety, Jawahar Ashwagandha (JA-20), are presented. Results revealed conspicuous differences between the cultivated and wild-type plants in most of the characters studied. One of the major differences between cultivated and wild-type plants is that the former are annual, whereas the latter are perennial. Photosynthetic rate was higher in the wild type, which was reflected in its higher biomass production. Another distinguishing character was the floral structure which favours self-pollination in the cultivated plants because of short stigma covered with anther lobes, which is in contrast to the wild type having long, projected stigma inviting cross-pollination. The cultivated plants were in full bloom during December-February; however, in the wild type flowering was a continuous process throughout its lifespan. Flow cytometer study revealed the same ploidy level for both the plant types. However, chemical profile showed variation between the two plant types, even though targeted chemical constituents tested in the study were common to both. However, HPLC quantification of these constituents showed superiority of the wild type compared to JA-20. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]