Encapsulation of Nodal Segments for Propagation and Short-term Storage of Giloe (Tinospora cordifolia Willd.): A Medicinally Important Plant Species

Aims and Objectives: Standardization of the concentration of encapsulation matrix and hardening solution owing to the proportion of germination to crop idyllic artificial seeds of Tinospora cordifolia followed by plantlet regeneration.

Study Design: Completely Randomized Design (CRD) was adopted to find out significant differences among different treatment combinations.

Place and Duration of the Study: The present study was conducted at Plant Tissue Culture & Genetic Transformation Laboratory, Department of Plant Molecular Biology & Biotechnology, College of Agriculture, Gwalior, Rajmata Vijayaraje Scindia Krishi Vishwa Vidyalaya, Gwalior, M.P., India during 2017 to 2020.

Methodology: A protocol was established for encapsulation of nodal segments of Tinospora cordifolia excised from 18-month-old in vitro raised plants for short- term conservation and further propagation. Diverse concentrations and combinations of gelling matrix viz., sodium alginate and complexing agent i.e., Calcium chloride were experienced to optimize combination to get uniform beads.

Results: The best gel composition was accomplished employing 2.5% sodium alginate and 100 mM calcium chloride. The maximum conversion response of encapsulated beads was achieved on Murashiage and Skoog’s medium supplemented with 2.0 mgl-1 BAP in combination with 0.2mgl-1 NAA. Well, developed regenerated plantlets were successfully hardened, acclimatized and established first under net house conditions followed in the field.

Conclusions: In this study, synthetic seed production technique in giloe (Tinospora cordifolia) has been established. Present method ensures viable strategy for multiplication, conservation and germplasm exchange through synthetic seed development.