Regeneration and rooting of the endangered Juniperus excelsa as affected by different culture media

In order to propagate and regenerate the Juniperus excelsa L. in large quantities, this research was conducted to identify the appropriate mineral salt concentrations and plant growth regulators toward forest ecosystem sustainability. Different basal culture media including Olive Medium (OM), Murashige and Skoog (MS), Driver and Kuniyuki (DKW), Woody Plant Medium (WPM), ½ MS, and ¼ MS supplemented with 1 mg L^-1 6-benzylaminopurine (BAP) and 0.1 mg L^-1 indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) as plant growth regulators (PGR) were examined on the explants' aerial organ growth, rooting and shoot proliferation. The experiment was carried out in a completely randomized design with three replicates and each replicate consisted of six samples. The results showed that the OM, DKW, and WPM culture media achieved the highest juniper regeneration of 100% when combined with BAP and IAA. The basic culture medium DKW produced the highest average number of shoots (8.05 shoots/explant) in the presence of 1 mg L^-1 BAP and 0.1 mg L^-1 IAA, however the highest shoot length (9.6 mm) observed in the DKW culture medium with no PGR. It is concluded that DKW and OM were the proper and most efficient culture medium for J. excelsa branch propagation and rooting, respectively.