effects of plant growth regulators and explant on callus induction in cuminum cymium l.

cumin (cuminum cyminum l.) as a member of the apiaceae family is one of the most important medicinal plants in iran. the purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of plant growth regulators and explant type on callus induction in cumin. for this purpose the cumin seeds (kuhbanan accession) were disinfected with sodium hypochlorite and alcohol and cultured on ms basal medium. leaf and hypocotyl explants were prepared from sterile seedlings and used to produce callus on ms medium containing 0.0, 0.5, 1.0 and 2.0 mg/l naa with 0.0 and 0.5 mg/l bap. the experimental was as completely randomized factorial design with three replications. the callus induction results showed that the explant type, hormone and their interactions showed non-significant effects on the callus induction percentage. about callus growth rate (cgr), the explants had a significant effect on this trait. however hormones and hormone- explant interactions didn’t have a significant effect on cgr. the results showed that the medium containing 1 mg/l naa and 0.5 mg/l bap was known as the best callus growth rate medium for cumin (0.238 mm/d). mean comparison for interaction effects of explant × hormone concentrations on callus growth rate showed that naa (0.5 mg/l) + ba (0.5 mg/l) in leaf explant indicated the highest effect (0.248 mm/d).