Annual Research & Review in Biology

Aims: This work was for the first time; undertaken to study the effect of different explant types and plant growth regulators on the callus induction and plant regeneration in both Satureja species. This protocol can be successfully employed for the large-scale multiplication and conservation of threatened this medicinal plant.
Study Design: The development and maintenance of callus lines from the hypocotyl and leaves of Satureja hortensis and Satureja avromanica and the study of plant growth regulators on plant regeneration. Micropropagation of these aromatic plants can play a role in the protection of the natural eco¬system, guarantee a massive sustainable produc-tion and can provide standardized plant materials for diverse economical purposes.
Place and Duration of Study: Experiments were carried out at the Department of Biology at Razi University of Kermanshah (Iran) in January 2011.
Methodology: The sterilized seeds were cultured on Murashige and Skoog medium, and then the explants were cultured from seedling and transferred to a MS medium supplemented with different concentration of BAP, Kinetin, NAA and 2,4-D growth regulator hormones.
Results: The highest percentage of callus formation frequency (96.67) in S. hortensis was obtained from hypocotyl explants grown on MS media supplemented with 1 mg L^-12,4-D and 2 mg L^-1KIN whereas media supplemented with 0.5 mg L^-12,4-D, 0.5 mg L^-1BAP and 0.5 mg L^-1NAA was the best for callus formation of hypocotyls (66.67%) in S. avromanica. Calli derived from hypocotyl segments of S. hortensis showed significantly higher frequency of plantlet regeneration than the calli derived from leaf segments. However, hypocotyl segments of S. avromanica were more efficient in plantlet regeneration which produced 87.30% shoot regeneration at MS medium supplemented with 1 mg L^-1 BA and 1 mg L^-1 IBA.
Conclusion: This protocol can be successfully employed for the large-scale multiplication and conservation of germplasm these plants.