Method and media for the somatic embryogenesis and regeneration of bamboo

A process for regenerating bamboo plants from excised bamboo plant tissue, which comprises the steps of

• (a) placing excised tissue obtained from undifferentiated vegetative bamboo plant parts on a first stage medium capable of inducing the excised tissue to produce an organogenic callus, said medium containing 1-naphthalene acetic acid, in an amount in the range of from 0.1 to 10 mg/l, and culturing said excised tissue until an organogenic callus is obtained,
• (b) subculturing the organogenic callus of step (a) on medium containing 1-naphthalene acetic acid in an amount of from zero to less than 10 mg/l and less than the amount used in step (a) to obtain a second callus having shoots and roots,
• (c) maintaining said second callus having shoots and roots in aseptic culture to form a plantlet,
• (d) obtaining an explant from a leaf sheath, internode, root or rhizome of said plantlet,
• (e) transferring the explant from step (d) to a second stage medium containing 6-benzylaminopurine in an amount in the range of from 0.3 to 3 mg/l and 2,4-dichlorophenoxy acetic acid in an amount in the range of from 0.5 to 6 mg/l, said medium being capable of inducing callus formation and somatic embryogenesis of the callus,
• (f) cultivating the explant from step (e) to form a third callus and
• (g) forming multiple embryos from the third callus of step (f).