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- Author or Editor: Carlos Lecona-Guzmán x
Factors such as slow growth, low rates of sexual and asexual reproduction, and viability of seeds among others limit the massive propagation of Agave americana L. by conventional methods. In this study, callus induction and shoot proliferation was determined in A. americana using Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with dicholorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) and 6-benzyl adenine (BA). Meristematic tissue was used as the explants, and were placed on MS medium supplemented with 30.0 g·L−1 sucrose with 0.11, 0.18, or 0.45 μm 2,4-D and 11.0, 22.0, 38.2, 44.0, 58.7, or 73.3 μm BA. Treatments were implemented according to factorial experimental design 3 × 6. After 1 month, the number of explants with callus was determined, whereas the numbers of shoots per explant were monitored after 4, 16, 20, and 36 weeks. The maximum percent of explants with callus was obtained with 0.11 μm 2,4-D and 58.7 and 73.3 μm BA, whereas the maximum numbers of shoots per explant (71) were obtained with 0.11 μm 2,4-D and 73.3 μm BA. The effect of different concentrations of indolebutyric acid (IBA) in the rooting of shoots was evaluated. There were no significant effects of IBA on the number of roots, root length, and axillary roots. Plantlets were acclimatized in the glasshouse and they did not show any phenotypic alteration. This is a highly efficient protocol for the in vitro propagation of A. americana via indirect organogenesis.
The effect of NaCI salinity on growth and development of somatic embryos of Habanero pepper was examined. Addition of 75 and 100 mm NaCI into the medium greatly increased the growth and development of somatic embryos and both of these concentrations favored the proliferation of somatic embryos. However, supplementation of 200 and 300 mm NaCI to the medium showed a negative effect on the growth and development of somatic embryos. Concentration increases of NaCl provoked a significant reduction of the embryos survival rate with the average lethal dose (46%) being registered in the treatment of 100 mm. Furthermore, a lower tolerance to salt stress (NaCl) was observed in deformed somatic embryos. Concentrations of 200 and 300 mm NaCl significantly delayed development in the surviving embryos in both treatments. These embryos remained at the globular stage throughout culture time. At 75 mm NaCl, most of the embryos were observed in the torpedo stage. However, the embryos exposed to 100 mm NaCl were observed mainly in globular and cotiledonar stages. It is quite likely that the transition from one intermediate stage of development to another occurs rapidly. With the exception of the concentration at 300 mm NaCl, salt stress stimulated embryonic germination, particularly at 100 mm NaCl. The content of proline in somatic embryos increased substantially in response to salinization. The results suggest that somatic embryos of C. chinense can tolerate concentrations of NaCl up to 100 mm without their development being affected. Moreover, they have sufficient cellular mechanisms to tolerate salinity at relatively higher levels.
The aim of this study was to determine the pungency level of different accessions of Habanero peppers. The high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) technique was used to evaluate the content of total capsaicinoids in the whole fruit, placenta, and pericarp of 18 accessions of Habanero pepper from the germplasm bank of the Capsicum chinense species maintained in the Scientific Research Center of Yucatan [Centro de Investigación Científica de Yucatán (CICY)]. Thirteen of these accessions belonged to the “orange type”, four to the “red type”, and one to the “yellow type”. During the study, the plants were cultivated and maintained under greenhouse conditions and the fruit was harvested only when it was completely ripe on the plant. The results show considerable intraspecific diversity for this characteristic as well as the existence of cultivars of this species that surpass the levels of pungency reported for Habanero peppers under the conditions evaluated.
The ontogenesis of direct high-frequency somatic embryogenesis of C. chinense induced from hypocotyl was characterized through a histological analysis of the different phases in the histodifferentiation process during the development of the somatic embryo. The anatomical analysis was carried out since the hypocotyl segments were placed in the culture medium until 45 days of culture. The somatic embryos were induced and maintained in Murashige and Skoog medium supplemented with 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (9.5 μm). Samples of tissues and organs were taken every 24 h, fixed in formalin acetic alcohol, and embedded in plastic resin. They were cut into serial sections (5 μm) and stained with toluidine blue. The analysis revealed that the proembryogenic cells originated just from provascular hypocotyl cells. Provascular cells acquired the embryogenic competence 48 h after induction and an intense mitotic division was observed and embryogenic structures were generated first along the vascular strands, which subsequently evolved into somatic embryos. After 2 weeks, there were observed embryos at different stages of development (preglobular, globular, heart-shaped, torpedo-shaped, and cotyledonary). This is the first report dealing with the ontogenesis of the direct somatic embryogenesis of C. chinense, and it is the most complete histological characterization carried out on somatic embryogenesis in the Capsicum genus to date.