1874 | Page In-vitro callogenesis of medicinal important plant Andrographis paniculata (Burm. f) Nees John Mohd War* 1 , Mehrajud Din Talie 1 , Zahoor Ahmad Bhat 1 , Abdul Hamid Wani 1 , Mohd Yaqub Bhat 1 , P. A. Gawande 2 , Yatoo Ghulam Mohiuddin 3 1 Plant Pathology and Mycology, Department of Botany, University of Kashmir, Srinagar 190006. 2 Department of Botany, Sant Gadge Baba Amravati University, Amravati-444602. 3 Department of Botany, Govt. Degree College Beerwah. ABSTRACT Medicinally important secondary metabolites gained much attention these days, owing to the world’s inclination towards herbal medicines. The practice of in vitro culturing of medicinally important plants has helped in increasing their production quantitatively and qualitatively. Considering the medicinal importance of Andrographis paniculata, the present investigation was undertaken to develop a rapid and reliable method for in vitro callogenesis of this species using different explants. Among the various explants used, leaf and nodal explants showed the better response for callus induction on Murashige and Skoog’s medium supplemented with various combinations of growth regulators. Best callus induction from leaf explants was obtained on MS medium containing 2,4-D (1.0mg/lit) + Kinetin (0.5mg/lit) followed by 2,4-D (1.5mg/lit)+Kinetin (1.0mg/lit). It was observed that nodal explants proved better for callogenesis on MS medium supplemented with 2, 4-D + Kinetin (1.5 + 1.0mg/lit). Out of total explants used for callogenic induction, internodal explants showed less callogenic induction than other explants under investigation. Key words: Andrographis paniculata, callogenic induction, callus, growth regulators, MS Medium. I INTRODUCTION The annual herbaceous medicinal plant Andrographis paniculata Nees., commonly known as Kalmegh or “King of bitters” belongs to family Acanthaceae, is found in India, China and Sri Lanka [1-2]. Traditionally, the leaves and other aerial parts of this medicinal plant are used for the treatment of hepatitis, bronchitis, cough, fever, mouth ulcers, colitis, sores, tuberculosis, bacillary dysentery, venomous snake bites, common cold, urinary tract infections and acute diarrhoea [3]. The plant is also reported to have immune enhancement and anti-HIV activities [4], hypoglycaemic effect [5], hepatoprotective properties [6], cardio-protective activity [7], antihypertensive activity [8], antifungal [9], antioxidant [10], anticancer and immunostimulatory properties [11]. Andrographolide, a diterpene lactone, is a major constituent of A. Paniculata [12], mostly extracted from leaves. Due to its high medicinal value, it is having high market demand in Homeopathy as well as in Ayurveda [13].