In vitro micropropagation of Sida acuta (Burm.F) An important medicinal plant through tissue culture technique

The plant Sida acuta Burm. F. belongs to familyMalvaceae commonly known as wire weed or (Broom weed)is an annual or perennial medicinal herb or under shrub, mostly distributed in tropical and sub tropical regions of the world.Due to the vast medicinal importance of Sida acuta.Its natural population has been declined very fast due to indiscriminate and illegal collections and destruction of its habitats a result there is need to conserve the important medicinal plant species. Its in vitro protocol techniques are currently unavailable to help growers to meet the demand of the plant for cultivation and pharmaceutical industry. Thus the present study has been designed to develop a reliable and reproducible protocol of this important plant which could be used for mass multiplication of this plant species to meet the increasing requirement of the pharmaceutical industry as well as for the conservation of germplasm. The present study deals with rapid and efficient protocol development for in vitro propagation of Sida acuta . Shoot induction on Murashige and Skoog medium supplemented with various auxins and cytokinins individually and in various combinations has been achieved by using axillary and apical meristems.MS medium fortified with BAP and NAA was found to be effective individually.