The Far East medicinal plant - Plantago camtschatica was propagated in vitro from tips of shoots (obtained in vitro) and from different explants of 4-week-old seedlings: seedling tips, hypocotyls, cotyledons, roots, first leaves. To our knowledge there is no information in literature about in vitro culture of this plantain. MS basal medium, supplemented with 0.6 pM IAA in combination with various cytokinins (BA, KIN, ZEA), was used. After 6 weeks of culture, micropropagation rate (MR) - mean number of buds and shoots per explant - was calculated. Our study proved that P. camtschatica species was amenable to propagation in vitro from different kinds of explants. However, multiplication by adventitious shoot regeneration from hypocotyl explants was found to be the most suitable method for the propagation of this plant. Adventitious shoots could root without stimulation what allows to omit the stage of rooting. The plants obtained as a result of micropropagation were not phenotypically changed.
Teratogenic effects of the anticonvulsant drug valproic acid (VPA) on the development of rat embryos during early stage of organogenesis were studied using whole embryo culture technique. Embryos with 0-3 somites were exposed in culture to 10, 50 and 100 μg/ml VPA. Growth and development were retarded in embryos exposed to 50 and 100 μg/ml. Drug induced anomalies included open neural tube, irregular somites, and asymmetrically enlarged forebrain. The "no-observed-adverse-effect-level" (NOAEL) was 10 μg/ml VPA.