IN VITRO CLONAL PROPAGATION OF A PROMISING AGROFUEL PRODUCING-PLANT : JATROPHA CURCAS L. MEDZA MVE S.D., MERGEAI G., BAUDOIN J.P., TOUSSAINT A. Université de Liège-Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech. Unité de Phytotechnie tropicale et Horticulture. 2, Passage des Déportés, 5030 Gembloux (Belgique) mergeai.g@fsagx.ac.be

Abstract: In the present investigation, in vitro clonal propagation of two-month-old Jatropha curcas L. plants was achieved employing nodal explants. Axillary shoot bud proliferation was best initiated on Murashige and Skoog’s (1962) basal medium and medium MS modified with macroelements of Quoirin and Lepoivre (1977), supplemented with N6-benzyladenine (BA) and adenine sulphate. The best medium of propagation was the MS basal medium supplemented with 8.87 µM of BA (6-benzylaminopurine) and 4.93 µM of IBA (acid indol butyric), it produced an average of 4.15 ± 0,5 shoots/explant presenting an average length of 6.31 ± 2.02 mm and a less developed callus after 4 weeks. Keywords: agrofuel, Jatropha curcas, in vitro culture, proliferation.

Introduction
Politics supporting a sustainable development and the recent world energy crisis create an opportunity for valuation of vegetable oil as agrofuel worldwide (Jayasingh, 2004). Among the potential crops that can be used as oil feedstock, Jatropha curcas arouses the interest of various development organizations in the tropical and subtropical areas because of its capacity 1

to produce seeds even in the semi-arid zones. Moreover, it can easily form natural, artificial and complex hybrids (Datta et al, 2007). The genus Jatropha contains 170 known species. Several varieties of Jatropha curcas exist worldwide but the most commonly known come from Cape Verde, Nicaragua and Mexico (Henning, 2006). Oil yield and quality depend on different factors: the age of the plants, the edaphic, and the climatic conditions, the cultivation methods and also the cultivated varieties (Gübitz et al, 1999). It is difficult to identify