Spirulina plantensis Extract: Natural Growth Regulator of in vitro Paulownia Cultures

Abstract

Paulownia is one of the most industrial trees nowadays concerning wood production. In-vitro culture of Paulownia will improve the quality of the produced wood otherwise the possibility of using it for medicinal purposes with various contained bioactivities compounds. This study focused on developing a new in vitro line of paulownia hybrid (Paulownia Shan Tong) with the highest content
of bioactive compounds and recorded the highest growth rate by using Spirulina extract as a natural growth regulator rather than synthetic hormones. Efficient Germination and shoot induction protocols were conducted. Different treatments were tested, and P6 treatment (6.0 mg/L of AE extract) was recorded. The Highest shoot length was recorded at 4.4±0.41cm, leaves number 6.8±0.37 (L/Explant), the highest root length at 8.0±1.0 cm, and the maximum root number at 5.0± 0.31 (R/Explant). The total phenolics and total flavonoids analyses recorded 365.42±5.69 mg GAE/g and 242.5±5.75 mg QE/g, respectively. Root in medium contained 6.0 mg/L of AE extract induced strong branched roots facilitated the acclimatization stage. This efficient protocol for paulownia in vitro production can be applied for commercial tissue culture laboratories and presents a new trend for in vitro economic woody plant production with low-cost.