Morphological, physico-chemical and micropropagation studies in Jatropha curcas L. and RAPD analysis of the regenerants

Four accessions of Jatropha curcas L. were characterized with respect to their yield and physico-chemical properties of seed-oil. Further, an efficient micropropagation protocol was developed followed by RAPD analysis of the regenerants. Although the highest 1000-seed-weight and seed-oil content were recorded in OJC1 and OJC5 accessions respectively, the seed-oil of OJC9 accession was more suited for biodiesel production due to the desirable characteristics like low values of free fatty acids, acid value, moisture content and total unsaturated fatty acids. An accession – independent micropropagation protocol of Jatropha was optimized by using axillary nodal explants with MS medium supplemented with a combination of growth regulators, glutamine and citric acid. All the accessions were amenable to in vitro culture, and the highest number of plantlets could be regenerated from the OJC5 accession. Although no somaclonal variation was recorded in the regenerants of all the accessions, RAPD analysis confirmed their genetic similarity and also the similarity of the clones with their respective mother plants.