Establishment and Regeneration of Callus Cultures in Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) from Various Explants

Aims: The present investigation aimed at in vitro establishment, multiplication and regeneration of plantlets from tomato callus using leaf, internode and root explants from in vitro geminated seedlings of cv. Solan Vajr.

Study Design: Completely randomized design (CRD).

Place and Duration of Study: Department of Biotechnology, Dr Y S Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni, Solan, Himachal Pradesh, India -173230, between 2013 and July 2015.

Methodology: Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium given in 1962 was used to carry out tissue culture experiments. Seeds of Tomato cv. Solan Vajr were sterilized using bavistin and sodium hypochlorite before proceeding for germination. Different concentrations of 6- Benzylaminopurine (BAP) and Naphthalene acetic acid (NAA) were tried for callus establishment, multiplication and regeneration.

Results: Treatment of leaf explant with 0.1% (w/v) bavistin for ten minutes and 0.5% (v/v) sodium hypochlorite for three minutes was the most effective giving 68.05% uncontaminated cultures and 60.94% survival of seedlings. MS medium supplemented with 1.2 mg/l GA3 gave the optimum seedling germination of 32.33%. MS medium supplemented with 3.0 mg/l NAA+ 1.0 mg/l BAP gave maximum growth of callus. Leaf and root explants gave 95.21% and 81.11% callus induction than internode (100%). The medium found best for callus growth was also found most suitable for callus multiplication and regeneration.

Conclusion: This study standardized protocols for callus initiation from different types of explants. Internode was found the best explant for callus induction in tomato cv. Solan Vajr. Protocol was also successfully established for multiplication, maintenance and regeneration from callus. This in vitro generated callus can further be used for cell selection studies.