Embryonal shoot tip multiplication in peanut: Clonal fidelity and variation in regenerated plants

Abstract

A high yielding, early maturing, semi dwarf variety of peanut {Arachis hypogaea L.) was multiplied in vitro by embryonal shoot tip culture on Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with phytohormones. Of the different phytohormones tested, BA (5 mg L ') in combination with NAA (0.1 mg L ') produced the best results in terms of average number of shoots produced per culture. The regenerants (R,) showed a decrease in plant height, leaflet size, number of pegs and seeds, and seed weight. They showed an increase in the number of primary branches in comparison with the seed-derived control plants. No significant change in the number of secondary branches and hundred seed weight (HSW) was observed. In R2, although a low percentage of variants (< 1%) was observed, pod yield was comparable to that of the seed-derived control. The variants obtained in the R2 were evaluated in the R3 and R4 and the characters were found to be heritable.