ABSTRACT
Echinops kebericho, endemic to Ethiopia, is a critically endangered medicinal plant. It is among the most important medicinal plants of the country, valued primarily for its root parts. The commercial harvesting and sale of roots of E. kebericho have threatened local populations. This study aimed to develop micropropagation protocol for E. kebericho using shoot tip explants. The study started with seed germination test using seeds stored for different months. Shoot tips from in vitro germinated seedlings were cultured on shoot initiation MS media supplemented with 0, 0.1, 0.5, 1.0, 1.5 and 2.0 mg/l BAP or KN alone. Explants were cultured on shoot proliferation media fortified with Kinetin, BAP, and TDZ each at 0.0, 0.5, 1.0, 2.5, 3.0 and 5.0 mg/l either alone or in combination with 0.0, 0.1, 0.25 and 0.5 mg/l NAA. For rooting, full, half and 1/3 strength MS media supplemented with IBA and NAA alone each at 0, 0.05, 0.1, 0.5, 1.0, 1.5 and 2.5 mg/l were used. Growth regulator free MS medium was used as control. Study results showed that 100% germination was recorded in fresh seeds and dropped as low as 65.18% and 22.3% for 3 and 5 months seeds respectively. 1.0 mg/l KN and 0.5 mg/l KN + 0.1 mg/l NAA showed maximum shoot proliferation on shoot induction media and shoot multiplication media respectively. Best rooting was obtained on 1/3 MS containing 1.5 mg/l NAA with 8.23 roots and 4.82 cm root length and established under greenhouse with 83% survival.