..........................................................................................VIII Chapter

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Physical, chemical, and mechanical properties of bamboo and its utilization potential for fiberboard manufacturing

Bamboos are versatile, arborescent, perennial and non-wood forest trees with tremendous eco-sociological and commercial importance. Different propagation techniques are available for bamboo, such as seed propagation, clump division, rhizome and culm cuttings, but these classical techniques suffer from serious drawbacks for large or mass scale propagation. For mass scale propagation, these are largely insufficient and inefficient and micropropagation is the only viable method. Indeed, the order of magnitude of the demand for bamboo planting material indicates that micropropagation will inevitably be necessary for mass scale propagation. The potential of micropropagation for mass scale propagation of bamboo has raised high hopes and a lot of research has been focused on the development of protocols for large and rapid scale propagation. These encompass optimization and establishment of in vitro culture techniques including micropropagation, somatic embryogenesis, in vitro flowering, macro proliferation, field performance and clonal fidelity. This review briefly provides the state-of-the-art information on tissue culture mediated biotechnological interventions made in bamboo for large scale micropropagation, that being the need of the hour. Keywords : Bamboo, micropropagation, somatic embryogenesis, in vitro flowering, macroproliferation, field performance, clonal fidelity African Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 12(20), pp. 2770-2785

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Micropropagation of important bamboos: A review

Biomineralization of Si by plants into phytolith formation and precipitation of Si into clays during weathering are two important processes of silicon's biogeochemical cycle. As a silicon-accumulating plant, the widely distributed and woody Phyllostachys heterocycla var. pubescens (moso bamboo) contributes to storing silicon by biomineralization and, thus, prevents eutrophication of nearby waterbodies through silicon's erosion of soil particles.A study on the organic pool and biological cycle of silicon (Si) of the moso bamboo community was conducted in Wuyishan Biosphere Reserve, China. The results showed that: (1) the standing crop of the moso bamboo community was 13355.4 g/m2, of which 53.61%, 45.82% and 0.56% are represented by the aboveground and belowground parts of moso bamboos, and the understory plants, respectively; (2) the annual net primary production of the community was 2887.1 g/(m2 x a), among which the aboveground part, belowground part, litterfalls, and other fractions, accounted for 55.86%, 35.30%, 4.50% and 4.34%, respectively; (3) silicon concentration in stem, branch, leaf, base of stem, root, whip of bamboos, and other plants was 0.15%, 0.79%, 3.10%, 4.40%, 7.32%, 1.52% and 1.01%, respectively; (4) the total Si accumulated in the standing crop of moso bamboo community was 448.91 g/m2, with 99.83% of Si of the total community stored in moso bamboo populations; (5) within moso bamboo community, the annual uptake, retention, and return of Si were 95.75, 68.43, 27.32 g/(m2 x a), respectively; (6) the turnover time of Si, which is the time an average atom of Si remains in the soil before it is recycled into the trees or shrubs, was 16.4 years; (7) the enrichment ratio of Si in the moso bamboo community, which is the ratio of the mean concentration of nutrients in the net primary production to the mean concentration of nutrients in the biomass of a community, was 0.64; and lastly, (8) moso bamboo plants stored about 1.26x10(10) kg of silicon in the organic pool made up by the moso bamboo forests in the subtropical area of China.

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Silicon's organic pool and biological cycle in moso bamboo community of Wuyishan Biosphere Reserve.

The effects of three periods of incubation (10, 20 and 30 min) at different levels of bleomycin (0, 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4 and 0.5 μg ml−1), as well as three periods of exposure (12, 24 and 48 h) to different levels of the anti-auxin p-chlorophenoxyisobutyric acid (PCIB), including 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 mg l−1, on microspore embryogenesis of rapeseed cv. ‘Amica’ were investigated. Microspore embryogenesis was significantly enhanced following 20 min treatment with 0.2 μg ml−1 bleomycin compared with untreated cultures. Highest embryo yield (163 embryos Petri dish−1) was observed with 24 h treatment of 4 mg l−1 PCIB. The highest percentage of secondary embryogenesis was observed on B5 medium containing 0.15 mg l−1 of gibberellic acid (GA3) and 0.2 mg l−1 6-benzyladenine (BA) in 4–6 mm microspore-derived embryos (MDEs). Most callus formed on B5 medium containing 0.15 mg l−1 GA3, 0.1 mg l−1 BA and 0.1 mg l−1 indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) when 4–6 mm embryos were used. Regeneration was highest on B5 medium containing 0.05 mg l−1 GA3 or 0.1 mg l−1 BA and 0.2 mg l−1 IAA with 2–4 mm embryos. Microspore embryogenesis and plant regeneration could be improved by both bleomycin and PCIB when the appropriate MDE length and phytohormone level were selected.

Enhanced regeneration of haploid plantlets from microspores of Brassica napus L. using bleomycin, PCIB, and phytohormones

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Bamboo as an engineering material:an annotated bibliography

Bamboo, a versatile multi-purpose forest produce, plays a vital role in the world's industrial and domestic economies. The lives of people, both urban and rural, rich and poor, are so intrinsically dependent upon bamboo and its variegated uses, that it is not hard to conceive the people's plight without this useful commodity. Easy to propagate, it is exploitable at quick rotations, say of 3-4 years. Besides naturally occurring in the forest, bamboo is extensively planted by the villagers on their marginal lands. Considering these areas and the forest areas, the estimated present production and utilisation of bamboos in India is about 9.5 million metric tonnes annually, providing a direct employment of about 71.25 million man-days for harvesting alone. The paper discusses: cultivation/plantation, management, treatment of bamboo before utilisation, and species-wise utilisation in detail. The progress research in the utilisation of bamboos at the F.R.I. has also been briefly discussed.

M. M. Pantt

Papers

Production and Utilization of Bamboos