In vitro propagation and agronomic performance of regenerated chili pepper (Capsicum spp.) plants from commercially important genotypes

Abstract

The application of modern biotechnology for improvement of chili pepper productivity requires an efficient in vitro plant regeneration protocol. In this study, a reliable protocol was developed for the in vitro regeneration of four types of chili, Capsicum annuum var. annuum (Jalapeño and Serrano), C. annuum var. glabriusculum/ aviculare (Piquin), and C. chinense (Habanero) by direct organogenesis using three different explants (cotyledon, hypocotyls, and embryo) and three induction media. All evaluated culture media promoted the formation of adventitious shoots. When embryos or hypocotyls were used as explants, morphologically normal adventitious shoots developed, while culturing cotyledons resulted in nonelongating rosette-shaped shoots. The highest in vitro regeneration efficiency (14.6 shoots per explant) was achieved when Habanero chili hypocotyls were grown on Murashige and Skoog medium containing 1.7 μM indole-3-acetic acid and 22.2 μM N 6 -benzyladenine. This regeneration rate is higher than that obtained in previous reports. Regenerated plants were ready to be transferred to the greenhouse 13 wk after the explant culture. An evaluation carried out under greenhouse conditions showed differences in agronomic performance between in vitro regenerated plants and plants developed from seeds with the magnitude of the differences depending on the genotype being studied.

Indirect somatic embryogenesis and morphohistological analysis in Capsicum chinense

“…Combinations of NAA, IAA and BAP have been used in different Capsicum explant types for regeneration induction by direct or indirect organogenesis (Valera-Montero & Ochoa-Alejo 1992; Manoharan et al 1998;Cai et al 2002;Li et al 2003;Lee et al 2004;Kumar et al 2005Kumar et al , 2007Qin et al 2005;Valera-Montero & Phillips 2005;Venkataiah et al 2006;Sanatombi & Sharma 2008;Valadez-Bustos et al 2009). Somatic embryogenesis in Solanum melongena cotyledon explants has also been induced with NAA (Sharma & Rajam 1995), and BAP has been used for the same purpose in Arachis archeri and Arachis appressipila embryonic axes (Pacheco et al 2007).…”

Horticultural Aspects for the Cultivated Production of Piquin Peppers (Capsicum annuum L. var. glabriusculum)—A Review

“…Regeneration efficiencies vary depending on genotype, culture media, and source of explant (hypocotyls and seed embryos are considered better explant sources than others, including cotyledons). The number of adventitious shoots obtained from in vitro explants of piquin pepper plants was more variable than those for other peppers, including jalapeño, serrano, and habanero (Valadez-Bustos et al, 2009).…”

“…Capsicum is considered a recalcitrant genus for in vitro cell, tissue, and organ differentiation, and for plant regeneration (Kothari et al, 2010). However, the use of in vitro techniques remains a possibility for the propagation of piquin pepper plants (Cardenas et al, 1997) and research on this field is promising; as when successful, in vitro propagation has yielded true to type plants and has shown improved horticultural performance in relation to their seed-derived counterparts (reduced time for seedling growth and enhanced fruit production) (Amzad et al, 2003;Valadez-Bustos et al, 2009).…”

Optimizing in vitro germination of Capsicum baccatum L. seeds through a multifactorial experimental design

“…These studies have resulted in different protocols and observed a significant diversity of morphogenetic responses dependent on genotype, the explant type and the culture medium conditions (Akram, Gaafar, Safwat, & Diab, 2011;Bora et al, 2014;Gogoi, Acharjee, & Devi, 2014;Grozeva, Rodeva, & Kintzios, 2009;Manzur et al, 2013;Orlinska & Nowaczyk, 2015;Raj, Glint, & Babu, 2015;Valadez-Bustos et al, 2009;Verma, Dhiman, & Srivastava, 2013). Among the various types of explants for the initial establishment of in vitro cultures, the seeds have advantages such as rapid growth, rapid availability of material for subsequent cultivation stages.…”