Tissue culture and generation of autotetraploid plants of Sophora flavescens Aiton

Background: Sophora flavescens Aiton is an important medicinal plant in China. Early in vitro researches of S. flavescens were focused on callus induction and cell suspension culture, only a few were concerned with in vitro multiplication. Objective: To establish and optimize the rapid propagation technology of S. flavescens and to generate and characterize polyploid plants of S. flavescens. Materials and Methods: The different concentrations of 6-benzylaminopurine (BAP), indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) and kinetin (KT) were used to establish and screen the optimal rapid propagation technology of S. flavescens by orthogonal test; 0.2% colchicine solution was used to induce polyploid plants and the induced buds were identified by root-tip chromosome determination and stomatal apparatus observation. Results: A large number of buds could be induced directly from epicotyl and hypocotyl explants on the Murashige and Skoog medium (MS; 1962) supplemented with 1.4–1.6 mg/l 6-benzylaminopurine (BAP) and 0.3 mg/l indole-3-acetic acid (IAA). More than 50 lines of autotetraploid plants were obtained. The chromosome number of the autotetraploid plantlet was 2n = 4x = 36. All tetraploid plants showed typical polyploid characteristics. Conclusion: Obtained autotetraploid lines will be of important genetic and breeding value and can be used for further selection and plant breeding.