MATERIALS AND METHODS
Plant materials
The present study was conducted at Plant Tissue Culture Lab, Department of Genetics and
Plant Breeding, Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi (U.P.)
in the year 2010-2011. A popular banana variety i.e. Dwarf Cavendish (high yielding
commercial cultivar) was selected for present investigation. Four weeks old suckers of
banana variety Dwarf Cavendish were obtained from Horticultural farm of the same Institute.
These suckers were washed in running tap water for 15 min to remove adhering soil. Shoottip
explants of banana were prepared by removing the outer layers of tissue from suckers with
a clean knife. Tissue blocks (20x30mm) containing shoot-tips and rhizomatous bases were
dipped in 0.25% bavistin solution for 30 min for surface sterilization. Finally the tissue
blocks of 10x15 mm size were prepared. The explants were rinsed with 70% ethanol and
dipped in 0.1% HgCl2 solution for 10 min. Then the explants were rinsed thrice with
autoclaved doubled distilled water. The dead tissue of each sterilized block was cut off to
leave a 5x8 mm portion containing an intact apex and one or more pairs of leaf primordia
together with 3 mm of rhizomatous base.