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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Ithaca, New York » Robert W. Holley Center for Agriculture & Health » Emerging Pests and Pathogens Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #285350
Title: Factors influencing plant regeneration from seedling explants of Hairy nightshade (Solanum sarrachoides)

Author
item JU, HO-JONG - Cornell University
item VAN ECK, JOYCE - Boyce Thompson Institute
item Gray, Stewart

Submitted to: Plant Cell Tissue and Organ Culture
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 7/1/2011
Publication Date: 1/1/2012
Citation: Ju, H., Van Eck, J., Gray, S.M. 2012. Factors influencing plant regeneration from seedling explants of Hairy nightshade (Solanum sarrachoides). Plant Cell Tissue And Organ Culture. 108(1):121-128.

Interpretive Summary: The solanaceous family of plants includes potato, tomato, pepper and eggplant and these plants are hosts to many plant pathogens that significantly reduce crop yield and quality. To study the fundamental mechanisms of how these pathogens cause disease to develop effective disease control strategies it is important to have a plant host that is easy to manipulate genetically, has a rapid generation time and can be easily grown. Hairy nightshade is a weedy plant that is related to the solanaceous food plants that meets these requirements and is susceptible to nearly all of the economically important plant pathogens affecting solanaceous food plants. In this study we developed the techniques and protocols to efficiently regenerate hairy nightshade plants from single cells that can be easily modified with genetic material from other organisms. This provides researchers with a model plant system to more easily study the ways that pathogens affect the plant to cause disease.

Technical Abstract: A good model plant to investigate plant – pathogen interactions would be easy to grow, have a short life cycle, be a natural host of many pathogens, and be easy to manipulate genetically. Hairy nightshade (Solanum sarrachoides) is a ubiquitous, fast growing weed that produces copious amounts of seed and grows commonly in many agricultural settings. It is a solanaceous plant related to potato, tomato, pepper and eggplant, and is a host of many of the principal fungal, bacterial and viral pathogens that affect these crops. The primary drawback is a lack of information on tissue culture methods for this plant. Effects on shoot regeneration were investigated based on the use of different gelling agents, cotyledon orientation, hypocotyl segments from different locations, and cytokinins. The type of gelling agent and tissue orientation had no effect on regeneration from cotyledons. However, effects on regeneration were observed based on the location of the hypocotyl segment, the type of cytokinin, and tissue type. Hypocotyl segments proximal to the cotyledons had a significant effect on regeneration. When benzylaminopurine or zeatin were used at various concentrations, the best shoot regeneration was found with 1 mg L-1 zeatin or 1mg L-1 BA. Shoots were easily rooted during prolonged incubation on the rooting media.