Phytochemical Analysis and Establishment of Embryogenic Cell Suspension and Agrobacterium-mediated Transformation for Farmer Preferred Cultivars of West African Plantain (Musa spp.)

Abstract

Banana and plantain are among the foremost staple food crops providing food and livelihood to over 500 million people in tropical countries. Despite the importance, their production is hampered due to several biotic and abiotic stresses. Plant tissue culture techniques such as somatic embryogenesis and genetic transformation offer a valuable tool for genetic improvement. Identification and quantification of phytochemicals found in banana and plantain are essential in optimizing in vitro activities for crop improvement. Total antioxidants, phenolics, flavonoids, and tannins were quantified in various explants obtained from the field, as well as in vitro plants of banana and plantain cultivars. The result showed genotypic variation in the phytochemicals of selected cultivars. The embryogenic cell suspensions were developed for three farmer-preferred plantain cultivars, Agbagba, Obino l’Ewai, and Orishele, using different MS and B5-based culture media. Both culture media supported the development of friable embryogenic calli (FEC), while MS culture media supported the proliferation of fine cell suspension in liquid culture media. The percentage of FEC generated for Agbagba, Obino l’Ewai, and Orishele were 22 ± 24%, 13 ± 28%, and 9 ± 16%, respectively. Cell suspensions produced from FECs were successfully transformed by Agrobacterium-mediated transformation with reporter gene constructs and regenerated into whole plants.

Using the Strategy of Inducing and Genetically Transforming Plant Suspension Cells to Produce High Value-Added Bioactive Substances

“…Plant tissue culture techniques, such as genetic transformation, provide valuable tools for the study of genetic modifications and plant functional genomics. , The suspension cells of plants were used as receptors, and some genes were modified by genetic engineering to affect the process of secondary metabolites, so as to increase the yield of active substances. The key of the application of genetic transformation is to explore the vital synthetic genes in the metabolic process and to integrate the exogenous target genes into the plant genome for stable expression (Table ).…”

“…96 ■ GENETIC TRANSFORMATION OF SUSPENSION CELLS OF PLANTS Plant tissue culture techniques, such as genetic transformation, provide valuable tools for the study of genetic modifications and plant functional genomics. 122,123 The suspension cells of plants were used as receptors, and some genes were modified by genetic engineering to affect the process of secondary metabolites, so as to increase the yield of active substances.…”

Genetic Engineering of Banana Against Bacterial Diseases

“…The earliest report on ECS generation was by Novak et al (1989) [12]. Since then, several reports have emerged involving many cultivars of dessert banana [13], EAHBs [14,15], and plantains [16]. However, optimized media compositions and culture conditions are still lacking for the regeneration of many elite cultivars [10], limiting the improvement of important cultivars, especially some East African Highland bananas like 'Ngombe' and 'Kisansa'.…”