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• The first attempt at in vitro propagation of E. venustus with Woody Plant Medium (WPM). • Combinations of BAP + KIN exhibited the highest shooting response and number of shoots. • WPM with IBA exhibited better results with the highest number of roots. • The rooted plantlets transferred to vermiculite exhibited a 72% survival rate. • The protocol will serve as an efficient tool to conserve this endangered tree at a higher risk of extinction. Elaeocarpus venustus Bedd. is a steno-endemic and Critically Endangered tree species discovered in Kalakkadu Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve (KMTR) southern Western Ghats of Tamil Nadu, India. An in vitro propagation method using nodal explant is developed on Woody Plant Medium (WPM) with 0.1–2.0 mg/l each of 6-benzyl amino purine (BAP), 6-furfuryl amino purine (FAP)/Kinetin (KIN), Thidiazuron (TDZ), Naphthalene acetic acid (NAA) and Indole butyric acid (IBA) individually and/or in combinations. The highest percentage of explants (85.60±3.50%) responded and exhibited bud breaking on a culture medium with 1.5 mg/l of BAP+ 1.0 mg/l of KIN after 45 days of incubation under 25±2 °C with 16hr of photoperiod of 1000 lux light intensity culture conditions. Each cultured explant produced 9.10±1.58 shootlets. On WPM containing 0.5 mg/l IBA, the in vitro produced shoots rooted (each shoot produced 5.20±0.83 roots) within 26 days of incubation. The rooted treelets were acclimatized and hardened using plastic cups with sterile vermiculite under laboratory conditions and about 72% of hardened plantlets survived in the field. It is suggested that the tissue culture process defined and developed can be used for the propagation and conservation of E. venustus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ranunculus wallichianus is a rare medicinal plant endemic to Western Ghats, India. Nodal explants were inoculated on MS medium with 1.0 to 5.0 mg L−1 of 6-benzyladenine (BA), kinetin (KIN), or thidiazuron (TDZ) resulting in a low percentage of shoot regeneration. Coconut water (CW) was added to MS medium containing the above mentioned cytokinins to promote in vitro plantlet growth. Multiple shoots were regenerated on half-strength Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium containing 1.0 to 5.0 mg L−1 BA, KIN, or TDZ in combination with 5%, 10%, and 20% CW. The highest percentage of shoot multiplication was observed from cultures incubated on half-strength MS medium supplemented with 3.0 mg L−1 TDZ in combination with 10% CW. The cut ends of well-elongated shoots were transferred to medium containing 0.5 to 3.0 mg L−1 indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) or indole-3-butyric acid (IBA) to induce in vitro root induction. Half-strength MS medium with 2.5 mg L−1 IBA and 250 mg L−1 activated charcoal shows high frequency of root formation. The well-rooted plantlets were transferred to pots for hardening with survival rate of 93% after 30 d. The present work indicates the addition of CW with the cytokinins in half-strength MS medium is suitable for rapid micropropagation of R. wallichianus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The lines of research conducted within a country often reflect its focus on current and future economic needs. Analyzing "search" trends on the internet can provide important insight into predicting the direction of a country in regards to agriculture, health, economy, and other areas. 'Google Trends' collects data on search terms from different countries, and this information can be used to better understand sentiments in different countries and regions. Agricultural output is responsible for feeding the world and there is a continuous quest to find ways to make agriculture more productive, safe, and reliable. The application of phytohormones has been used in agriculture world-wide for many years to improve crop production and continues to be an active area of research for the application in plants. Therefore, in the current study, we searched 'Google Trends' using the phytohormone search terms, abscisic acid, auxins, brassinosteroids, cytokinin, ethylene, gibberellins, jasmonic acid, salicylic acid, and strigolactones. The results indicated that the African country Zambia had the greatest number of queries on auxin research, and Kenya had the most queries in cytokinin and gibberellin research world-wide. For other phytohormones, India had the greatest number of queries for abscisic acid and South Korea had the greatest number of ethylene and jasmonic acid search world-wide. Queries on salicylic acid have been continuously increasing while the least number of queries were related to strigolactones. Only India and United States of America had significant numbers of queries on all nine phytohormones while queries on one or more phytohormones were absent in other countries. India is one of the top five crop-producing countries in the world for apples, millet, orange, potato, pulses, rice, sugarcane, tea, and wheat. Similarly, the United States of America is one of the top five crop-producing countries of the world for apples, grapes, maze, orange, potato, sorghum, sugarcane, and wheat. These might be the most possible factors for the search queries found for all the nine phytohormones in India and the United States of America. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]