Effective and simple in vitro regeneration system of Miscanthus sinensis, M. × giganteus and M. sacchariflorus for planting and biotechnology purposes

Miscanthus species are important energy crops, due to their high yield of biomass, used for combustion, biofuel fabrication and as a feedstock for various products. They can be also utilised for phytoremediation and other ecological programmes. Extensive needs require considerable amounts of planting material, which can be provided by in vitro micropropagation. A new effective and simple regeneration system of M. sinensis, M. × giganteus and M. sacchariflorus was developed, which comprises just two media supplemented exclusively with growth regulators and lasts for 5 months. Significant differences in regeneration capacity were observed between species, genotypes, and initial explants, and also in the effects of media and growth regulators. Embryogenic callus was induced on explants excised from whole immature inflorescences for M. sinensis and M. × giganteus, or inflorescence axes for M. sacchariflorus, implanted on C17 medium with 90 g l−1 maltose, 5.0 mg l−1 2,4-D and 0.5 mg l−1 BAP. Plant regeneration, tillering, and rooting were conducted on 190-2 medium with 30 g l−1 sucrose, 0.5 mg l−1 KIN and 0.5 mg l−1 NAA. The system produces about 7-20 plantlets per a single explant depending on responsiveness of a genotype of M. sinensis, M. × giganteus and M. sacchariflorus. This indicates the potential scale of direct production at 1500-2000 plantlets from a donor clump. The presented system may provide a large number of plants for field trials and physiological research, as well as facilitate the application of biotechnological methods to improve utility traits of bioenergy crops.