Artificial Neural Networks Elucidated the Essential Role of Mineral Nutrients versus Vitamins and Plant Growth Regulators in Achieving Healthy Micropropagated Plants

Abstract

The design of an adequate culture medium is an essential step in the micropropagation process of plant species. Adjustment and balance of medium components involve the interaction of several factors, such as mineral nutrients, vitamins, and plant growth regulators (PGRs). This work aimed to shed light on the role of these three components on the plant growth and quality of micropropagated woody plants, using Actinidia arguta as a plant model. Two experiments using a five-dimensional experimental design space were defined using the Design of Experiments (DoE) method, to study the effect of five mineral factors (NH4NO3, KNO3, Mesos, Micros, and Iron) and five vitamins (Myo-inositol, thiamine, nicotinic acid, pyridoxine, and vitamin E). A third experiment, using 20 combinations of two PGRs: BAP (6-benzylaminopurine) and GA3 (gibberellic acid) was performed. Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) algorithms were used to build models with the whole database to determine the effect of those components on several growth and quality parameters. Neurofuzzy logic allowed us to decipher and generate new knowledge on the hierarchy of some minerals as essential components of the culture media over vitamins and PRGs, suggesting rules about how MS basal media formulation could be modified to assess the quality of micropropagated woody plants.

A Model Nutrition Control System in Potato Tissue Culture and Its Influence on Plant Elemental Composition

“…Additionally, changes in shoot N uptake had a significant positive interaction with the changes in P, K, Ca, and Mg uptakes ( Table 4 ). Similar findings were reported for N and K in Actinidia arguta grown under tissue culture and for N, Ca, and Mg in cucumber grown under hydroponic conditions [ 23 , 24 ]. Therefore, N supply studies in potato plants would require careful consideration of balance with other elements because the reduced uptake of these nutrients can occur before any apparent symptoms.…”

Adult Trees Cryptomeria japonica (Thunb. ex L.f.) D. Don Micropropagation: Factors Involved in the Success of the Process

“…Similar to our experiment on C. japonica, the lower nitrogen content of QL medium promoted organogenesis in Cedrus deodara and P. ponderosa [44,47]. Recently, for improving the micropropagation protocol of plants, artificial neural networks algorithms have been used to build models to determine the effect of mineral nutrients, vitamins, and plant growth regulators on several growth and quality parameters of micropropagated plants [48].…”

History, Phylogeny, Biodiversity, and New Computer-Based Tools for Efficient Micropropagation and Conservation of Pistachio (Pistacia spp.) Germplasm

“…Micropropagation has many advantages over conventional propagation systems; among others, the possibility of a massive multiplication of elite genotypes in a very short time, the rescue of those genotypes in danger of extinction and those others difficult to propagate by conventional techniques; all these advantages are easily applicable to the Pistacia genus, as described below [ 175 ]. The success or failure of micropropagation methods, regardless of whether they are initiated from apical or axillary meristems, adventitious shoots or somatic embryos, depends critically on the effect of a large number of factors, including genotype, culture conditions and, above all, the composition of the culture medium (mineral nutrients of the culture medium, PGRs and vitamins) [ 176 , 177 , 178 , 179 ].…”

“…Among different tools of AI, Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) and ML, Fuzzy Logic (FL),algorithms are considered the most important scientific advances of recent years with a range of important applications in understanding plant complex bioprocesses [ 210 , 213 , 214 ], showing many advantages over traditional statistics [ 215 , 216 ]. Different combination of ANNs plus FL and Genetic Algorithms have been used to model complex in vitro processes such as shoot multiplication [ 217 ], rhizogenesis and acclimatization [ 218 ], seed germination [ 219 ], designing plant culture media [ 178 , 220 ] and elicitation of bioactive compounds accumulation [ 221 ].…”