In vitro culture as an aid to conservation of indigenous ferns: Diplazium proliferum

With the ever growing population and economic needs of Mauritius, the flora of Mauritius has never been in more danger and one group of vascular plants is even more in peril; ferns. Diplazium proliferum is indigenous to the Mascarene region and is considered as a rare species in Mauritius. The need to develop a tested in vitro propagation protocol is a must to protect the biodiversity of Mauritius. This experiment was geared towards the establishment of a proper sterilization technique and the effect of 6-benzylaminopurine (BAP) and light on in vitro culture of this fern. Sterilization with 0.05% Mercuric chloride was effective to eliminate fungal contamination and allow germination of spores. Culture media supplemented with BAP did not significantly increase growth rate of both gametophytes and sporophytes of D. proliferum. Present results suggest efficient sterilization methods to be a crucial stage for successful in vitro regeneration of ferns. The established protocol will be used as an optimized baseline protocol for the propagation of other indigenous ferns.