Micropropagation and effect of phloroglucinol on rooting of Diospyros crassiflora Hiern

The jet-black to streaked ebony wood produced by the African ebony (Diospyros crassiflora Hiern, Ebenaceae) is exploited in Central and West Africa. A conservation effort is currently underway in Cameroon to propagate the tree through seedlings and cuttings. However, the intermittent availability of its seeds and the long time required for rooting formation of cuttings are limiting its propagation. The present study aims to develop a successful protocol for ebony micropropagation. In vitro culture of nodal segments from seedlings was performed on half-strength Murashige and Skoog medium supplemented with either zeatin (0.0, 2.3, 4.6, 9.1, 13.7, 18.2, 22.8 and 27.4 µM) or 6-benzylaminopurine (BAP) (0.0, 2.2, 4.4, 8.8, 13.3, 17.8, 22.2 and 26.6 µM). After 12 weeks, all media allowed shoot bud-break. Shoots displaying the highest bud-break were observed with 22.8 µM and 22.2 µM of Zeatin and BAP respectively. The shoots were then transferred to a medium supplemented with indole-3-butyric acid (IBA) and phloroglucinol (PG) at different concentration for root induction. Rooted plants were acclimatized to the greenhouse.