TISSUE-CULTURES OF WITHANIA-SOMNIFERA - MORPHOGENESIS AND WITHANOLIDE SYNTHESIS

Tissue cultures were established from axillary meristems of the plant Withania somnifera. Growth hormones influenced the morphogenetic responses of the cultures. The explants gave multiple shoots in Murashige and Skoog's (MS) medium supplemented with benzyladenine (BA), rooting in MS + coconut milk (CM) (10%) and callus formation in MS + 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) (2.0 ppm). Callus cultures failed to synthesize withanolides. Multiple shoot cultures synthesized significant levels of withanolides and their concentrations varied with different growth hormones.