Somatic embryogenesis in Vaccinium vitis-idaea L.: a high-fidelity micropropagation approach producing true-to-type plants with enhanced phytochemical profiles

Abstract The “superfruit” lingonberry ( Vaccinium vitis-idaea L.) is well known for its enormous health benefits and rich phytochemical contents. However, its regeneration and propagation face significant challenges due to the woody nature of the plant and poor proliferation rates using conventional methods. By using juvenile leaf explants of two V. vitis-idaea genotypes, this study introduces a novel and efficient somatic embryogenesis (SE) protocol for lingonberry micropropagation. The berry basal medium supplemented with 5.5 µM thidiazuron was optimized for the SE protocol where 92% embryogenic callus induction was achieved. The effectiveness of plantlet regeneration was greatly increased by employing 4.0 µM zeatin. Scanning electron microscopy study and histological analyses confirmed the development, maturation, and structural integrity of somatic embryos. Clonal fidelity study between the donor and regenerated plants by expressed sequence tag-simple sequence repeat (EST-SSR) and genomic simple sequence repeat (GSSR) ensured the genetic stability and maintenance of trueness-to-type of the SE micropropagules. The SE-regenerated plants showed higher levels of flavonoids, anthocyanins, and antioxidant activity than donor plants, indicating their improved nutritional and medicinal potential. Furthermore, SE-regenerated plants possessed elevated levels of antioxidant enzymes like catalase and superoxide dismutase, which enhanced their ability to withstand stress. The findings from this study provide a scalable, reliable, and sustainable approach to lingonberry micropropagation, combining genetic fidelity with enhanced phytochemical profiles.