Establishing Contamination-free Cultures and Optimising Shoot Initiation in Bambusa balcooa Roxb. through Nodal Explants

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.