Direct shoot regeneration and establishment of Solanum pseudocapsicum from nodal and leaf segments

The study was carried out during 2022 and 2023 at ICAR- Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi to establish a reliable and efficient protocol for direct regeneration of Solanum pseudocapsicum (L.) using nodal and leaf explants. Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium fortified with 0.5 mg/L kinetin and 0.2 mg/L indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) was found best for shoot regeneration, resulting in an average of 5.4 shoots/explant with an average shoot length of approximately 6.8 cm. Among the cytokinins tested, kinetin demonstrated superior efficacy compared to benzylaminopurine (BAP), while IAA outperformed α-naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA) among the auxins. The incorporation of gibberellic acid (GA₃) to kinetin-supplemented media further enhanced shoot induction and elongation. MS medium fortified with 0.5 mg/L GA₃ and kinetin at concentrations ranging from 1–3 mg/L resulted in 5.4–5.8 shoots per explant, with average increase in shoot lengths varying from 5.2–5.8 cm. Notably, no significant statistical differences were observed among the three kinetin concentrations tested (1, 2 and 3 mg/L), indicating that GA₃ was the critical factor for shoot elongation at this stage. Direct shoot regeneration was recorded from the leaf explants with the leaf margins showing pronounced growth within two weeks of inoculation which gave rise to shoots after one month of culture. The maximum number of shoots per leaf explant was achieved on MS medium supplemented with 2.0 mg/L BAP and 0.5 mg/L NAA. Regenerated shoots were successfully rooted on MS basal medium.