ABSTRACT
A well-organized micropropagation protocol has been designed for Salvia hispanica L., which bears high nutritional and medicinal value. Seeds of S. hispanica L. were germinated aseptically on half strength MS medium. Nodal explants obtained from in vitro germinated seedling were cultured on MS medium fortified with 6-benzyladenine (BAP) (1–5 mg/l) or Kinetin (Kin) (1–5 mg/l) individually or with α-naphthalene acetic acid (0.1–1 mg/l) and indole3-acetic acid (IAA) (0.1–1 mg/l) for clonal propagation. It was observed that maximum amount of shoots per explant (9.02 ± 2.65) was achieved on culture medium fortified with 3 mg/l BAP which was also optimum for subculturing of the regenerated shoots. Rooting was achieved on medium supplemented with 1 mg/l IBA. The rooted plantlets were acclimatized and transferred to field conditions, with 75% survival rate. Genetic fidelity studies were carried out on regenerated plantlets by 30 random amplified polymorphic DNA and 10 intersimple sequence repeat (ISSR) as molecular markers