Abstract A protocol was established for callus induction and plant regeneration of Albizia julibrissin Durazz., a multipurpose tree. Calli were induced on hypocotyl explants excised from 10- to 14-d-old in vitro seedlings cultured on Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with α- naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA) alone or in combination with 6-benzylaminopurine (BA) or 6-furfurylaminopurine (kinetin). The highest frequency of organogenic callus (82.2± 3.6%) was obtained on MS medium with 10.8 μM NAA and 4.4 μMBA. Calli were then cultured on MS medium with BA or zeatin, singly or in combination, for shoot regeneration. Calli cultured on MS medium with 13.2 μM BA and 4.6 μM zeatin produced the highest frequency of adventitious shoot regeneration (75.3±6.3%). Maximum rooting of shoots (73.3±5%) was achieved using half-strength MS medium with 4.9 μM indole-3-butyric acid. The genetic fidelity of 12 plants acclimatized to the greenhouse was assessed based on analyses of start codon targeted (SCoT) polymorphism and inter-retrotransposon amplified polymorphism (IRAP). The 14 SCoT and 7 IRAP adapted primers produced 71 and 34 scoreable fragments, of which 33 (46%) and 12 (35%) were polymorphic, respectively. The in vitro-raised plants exhibited 0.129–0.438 genetic distance from the mother plant and 0.000–0.788 distance from one another according to the SCoT and IRAP analyses. Although the culture method described here may not be suitable for clonal propagation of elite genotypes, it can be used for conservation of this plant.
