Direct organogenesis and genetic fidelity of papaya ‘Red Lady’ with improved acclimatization using foliar silicon and salicylic acid

Compared with other in vitro propagation methods, direct organogenesis offers a faster and more reliable approach for producing true-to-type papaya plants. This regeneration pathway proved to be efficient, reproducible, and genetically stable, as no somaclonal variation was observed among the regenerated plantlets. Our protocol is controlled and reliable, as adventitious shoots transplanted more than 8 times are consistent with the genetic stability of first-generation donor material. Therefore, Si application can be considered an effective and co-friendly strategy to improve the success rate of acclimatization in tissue cultured plants. The findings of the study proved that there is a significant correlation between physiological parameters (CAT, MDA, stomatal density) and survival percentage.