Tissue Culture of Sealing Red Wax Palm - (Aug/28/2006 )
Hi there,
I would like to induce callus from sealing red wax palm (Cyrtostachys lakka or Cyrtostachys renda). Anyone has the tissue culture experience/protocol on this plant?
Previously, I've tried to germinate the seeds on MSO and MS supplemented with 2mg/L of 2,4-D but to no avail. They are either contaminated (fungal growth) or turned brown after sometime.
FYI, this plant originates from Malaysia and is one of the most beautiful and sought-after palms. The petioles and sheaths are yellow on young plants and turn distinctively red on mature plants.
Thanks!
Auyong
this sounds suspicious to me
...what about sterilization/storage procedures? have you tried to check them???
Hope this helps!
ILA
Sterilization :
70% ethanol for 3 mins, followed by
30% sodium hypochlorite for 20 mins (2 drops of Tween-20 added)
well rinsed with sterile distilled water.
All procedures were done in the laminar airflow... 
If you have fungal contamination, there must be something wrong (your explants can be either sterile or not...not so many palettes in the middle ).
This particular problem can be related both with sterilization and aseptic technique, during manipulation and culturing.
Your protocol looks fine, but there are too many details I ignore about this specie. (one among all: how your seeds look like 
)
Moreover, this isn't necessary related with your absence of growth.
If it's the callus you need, have you tried to start with leaf or other kinds of explants instead of seeds?
There are many species that are really recalcitrant in vitro, and this can be the source of all your problems. For example, some procedures gave me no more than 1-2% of regeneration efficiency, but it's quite normal and accords perfectly with literature.
It's just a suggestion, no warrants at all...
All the best & good luck!