Micropropagation and in vitro conservation of wild Arachis species

Abstract

Wild species of Arachis constitute potential sources of novel genes for groundnut improvement programs and some of them are also considered as new agricultural usage. The majority of these species occur in regions under intensive human activity and their areas of distribution are being drastically reduced, thus requiring effective conservation measures. Conservation of Arachis germplasm is usually carried out in seed banks or as live plants. However, seed renewal can be impaired by loss of germinative potential, and plant multiplication under field conditions can be limited by specific soil and environmental requirements or by low seed yield. Therefore, complementary in vitro methodologies represent an important tool for ex situ conservation of Arachis germplasm. In this work, we analyse the state of art of micropropagation and the use of in vitro conservation methodologies for wild relatives of the groundnut.

Potential, constraints and applications of in vitro methods in improving grain legumes

“…Somatic embryogenesis was induced in leaflets by Narasimhulu and Reddy () and Chengalrayan, Mhaske, and Hazra (). Micropropagation and in vitro conservation of wild Arachis species, considered as potential sources of novel genes for crop improvement, have been reviewed by Pacheco, Gagliardi, Valls, and Mansur ().…”

Cryopreservation of in vitro-grown shoot-tips of Rabdosia rubescens by encapsulation-dehydration and evaluation of their genetic stability

“…In vitro tissue culture conservation is susceptible to contamination and somaclonal variation (Watt et al 2009;Gonçalves et al 2010). Cryopreservation is the most promising choice for conservation of vegetatively propagated plants owing to its safety, repeatability and long-term storage possibility (Pacheco et al 2009;Hazubska-Przbyl et al 2010). Cryogenic procedures such as simple-freezing, vitrification, encapsulation-dehydration and encapsulation-vitrification have been developed and the number of cryopreserved species or cultivars has sharply increased (Tsai et al 2009;Hua and Hong 2010).…”

Somatic embryogenesis in the medicinal legume Desmodium motorium (Houtt.) Merr.

“…Appropriate types, concentration and combination of plant growth regulators have enabled manipulation of response and recovery of plants in a number of species (Ammirato 1983b). Perusal of the literature reveals that, in most plants, the auxin most commonly used to induce somatic embryogenesis is 2,4-D (Hofmann et al 2004;Korbes and Droste 2005;Hiraga et al 2007;Pacheco et al 2009;Viba et al 2009;Chen et al 2010;Pan et al 2010;Palmer and Keller 2010;Prange et al 2010;Chai et al 2011;Ram et al 2011). Induction of somatic embryogenesis by cytokinin alone is relatively rare among legumes (Maheshwaran and Williams 1986;Malik and Saxena 1992).…”