Abstract
A simple and efficient plant regeneration system via direct organogenesis was established in finger millet using in vitro derived shoot apical meristems. Six varieties; GBK-043128, GBK-043094, GBK-043050, GBK-043137, GBK-043122 and GBK-043124 were evaluated. MS medium was used for cotyledonary germination. Maximum number of shoots (84.33%) was observed in variety GBK-043128 while GBK-043094 had the least germination efficiency (62. 67%). Shoot apical meristems from three-day old seedlings were evaluated for their potency of shoot induction on varied 6-benzylaminopurine (BAP) concentrations. Highest shoot induction was observed in medium supplemented with 1.75 mg/l BAP in GBK-043050 (3.00) whereas GBK-043094 (1.28) had the least response in medium supplemented with 1.0 mg/l BAP. To induce rooting, in vitro regenerated plants cultured on MS medium was supplemented with different concentrations of indole-3- acetic acid. The highest response in root induction, with a larger number of roots (10.28), was observed in MS medium supplemented with 4.0 µM IAA. Statistical analysis indicated that plant regeneration response varied greatly among the varieties. In vitro germinated plants were successfully transferred to the greenhouse after hardening, with 300 shoots developing into fertile plants, which were indistinguishable with wild type plants. This plant regeneration system has potential for production of transgenic finger millet crops. Key words: Direct organogenesis, finger millet, root induction, shoot apical meristems.
Highlights
Finger millet [Eleusinecoracana (L.) Gaertn.] is an important cereal crop worldwide which is cultivated on more than 4 million hectares with an annual production of at least 4.5 million tons of grain
The seeds of the six selected finger millet varieties were germinated on Murashige and Skoog (MS) basal medium containing with 30% sucrose and different germination efficiencies recorded after three days of incubation in dark (Figure 1A)
In order to establish rapid and efficient plant regeneration procedures that could be used in genetic engineering experiments, hormone regimes which have previously been reported in successful finger millet transformation were tested
Summary
Finger millet [Eleusinecoracana (L.) Gaertn.] is an important cereal crop worldwide which is cultivated on more than 4 million hectares with an annual production of at least 4.5 million tons of grain. Finger millet has outstanding nutritional qualities as the grain is rich in calcium, phosphorus, iron, cysteine, tyrosine, tryptophan and methionine (Latha et al, 2005). Other new food merchandise made of finger millet that have become common among younger generation include vermicelli, pasta, noodles, sweet products, snacks and different bakery products
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