Improvement of somatic embryogenesis and plantlet conversion in Oplopanax elatus, an endangered medicinal woody plant

Oplopanax elatus is a medicinal plant on the verge of extinction because of overexploitation. In the present study, the effects of various factors on enhancing somatic embryogenesis and plantlet conversion were studied. Mature seeds were collected from a total of 13 plants from 4 mountains in South Korea, and the genetic distances were calculated to analyze the effect of genotype on somatic embryogenesis. Results of cluster analysis and the unweighted-pair-group method with arithmetic mean of 13 genotypes indicated the presence of 3 main groups. Both genotype and explant type affected the induction of somatic embryos (SEs). Sorak 2 and root were found to be the most suitable genotype and explant type, respectively, for SE induction in O. elatus. Among the different types of carbon sources tested, 5% sucrose induced the maximum number of SEs. The formation and development of SEs were significantly influenced by culture density; thus, 10 mg embryonic callus was found to be the most suitable for SE induction. The highest rates of germination and SE conversion were obtained in a germination medium containing 1.8 gelrite and 3.2 g·l(-1) agar. In addition, 80% of the plantlets that were transplanted into artificial soil acclimatized successfully. Thus, our results showed that the percentage survival of O. elatus during in vitro proliferation could be increased by optimizing to the somatic embryogenesis system.