Journal of Advances in Biology & Biotechnology

Establishing aseptic nodal cultures and promoting axillary bud development are important early stages in the in vitro propagation of Bambusa balcooa Roxb. Six surface-disinfection regimes (S1–S6) and six Murashige and Skoog (MS) media containing different concentrations of 6-benzylaminopurine (BAP) and kinetin (I0–I5) were evaluated. Each treatment comprised five replications of ten nodal explants. In the disinfection experiment, 45 of 50 explants (90%) were recorded as contamination-free under S3, which combined an ethanol wipe, Tween 20, Bavistin, mercuric chloride and Plant Preservative Mixture in the culture medium. The reported one-way analysis of variance showed variation among disinfection regimes (F(5, 24) = 18.08; p = 1.91 × 10⁻⁷). For cytokinin treatments, the highest recorded initiation frequency occurred on MS medium with 3 mg L⁻¹ BAP (I3; 42 of 50 explants, 84%); the mean was 8.4 initiating explants per ten-explant replication, rather than 8.4 shoots per explant. Initiation was recorded after a mean of 10 days for I3. An analysis based on replicate counts indicated treatment differences (F(5, 24) = 74.99; p = 7.48 × 10⁻¹⁴), although the reported post hoc grouping did not distinguish I3 significantly from the 4 mg L⁻¹ BAP treatment (I5). These observations identify promising early-stage culture conditions under the tested laboratory setting; confirmation of experimental-unit independence, prolonged culture viability and subsequent multiplication is needed before application as an integrated propagation protocol.