In vitro propagation and genetic fidelity study of plant regenerated from inverted hypocotyl explants of eggplant (Solanum melongena L.) cv. Arka Shirish

Genetic variation due to somaclonal variation in micropropagated plants is a beneficial phenomenon for crop improvement. Genetic integrity of the plants derived through micropropagation becomes crucial if genetic transformation studies have to be carried out. Somaclonal variation in tissue culture is a common phenomenon which makes it mandatory to check for genetic stability of plants. Hypocotyl explants of Solanum melongena L. cv. Arka Shirish inoculated with inverted polarity in MS media supplemented with 0.5 mg L 1 thidiazuron (TDZ) gave maximum number of shoot buds. Elongation of the shoot buds was achieved on MS medium supplemented with 0.5 mg L 1 2, 3, 5-triiodobenzoic acid (TIBA) and 0.1 mg L 1 gibberellic acid (GA3). The elongated shoots were rooted in MS with 1 mg L 1 indole-3-butyric acid (IBA), and the rooted plants were hardened in the greenhouse. Morphological characteristics were similar in both seed-propagated and micropropagated plants. Random amplified polymorphic DNA analysis carried out with 10 primers for genetic stability studies of the regenerated plants generated 96 scorable bands with a total of 1,056 bands for the primers. Comparison of the bands with the mother plant revealed the monomorphic nature and true-to-type clones. The above regeneration protocol will be useful for micropropagation and genetic transformation studies of S. melongena L. cv. Arka Shirish.