Somatic embryogenesis of sago palm (Metroxylon sagu Rottb.) from different origins in Indonesia

Sago palm (Metroxylon sagu Rottb.) is considered as one of the prospective carbohydrate-producing crops in Indonesia. The development of commercial sago plantations has been hampered by the shortage of superior planting materials in a large quantity. Rapid and large-scale propagation of superior varieties could be accomplished by tissue culture. The Indonesian Research Institute for Biotechnology and Bioindustry has developed tissue culture of sago through somatic embryogenesis. The research objective was to determine the response of sago origins to previously developed somatic embryogenesis procedure. Explants of young suckers were taken from six different sago areas in Indonesia: Riau, West Java, South Kalimantan, Moluccas, Papua, and Southeast Sulawesi. Callus initiation was conducted on a solid modified-MS medium. The frequency of callus initiation was low and highly varied between 0.7% (Southeast Sulawesi and Papua) and 12.5% (West Java). The first callus was formed at the fourth culture (20 weeks) on explants from West Java and South Kalimantan, and at the sixth culture (29 weeks) on explants from Southeast Sulawesi. Callus multiplication rate was generally very high, 2-3.4 folds in 4 weeks. Calli produced from all explant origins could be successfully developed for somatic embryos and plantlets.