Effect of plant growth regulators on indirect shoot organogenesis of Ficus religiosa through seedling derived petiole segments

Development and comparative analysis of initiation ability in large-scale Heuchera propagation using tissue culture versus cuttings

The Heuchera genus, a member of the Saxifragaceae family, encompasses a wide array of varieties and hybrids, serving both traditional medicinal and ornamental purposes. However, a significant knowledge gap persists in achieving efficient mass propagation of diverse Heuchera cultivars creating a substantial market void. To address this, our study focuses on expedited seedling regeneration by investigating leaf cutting and tissue culture techniques to offer novel insights to cultivators. Herein, we successfully rooted thirteen distinct cultivars from the Heuchera and Heucherella (Heuchera × Tiarella) genera through cutting. Moreover, in vitro culture experiments led to the successful induction of calli and shoots from petiole samples. Notably, variations in measured parameters were observed across cultivars in both cutting and tissue culture methodologies. When petiole explants were exposed to cytokinin 6-benzylaminopurine (BA) at concentrations of 0.5, 1.0, and 2.0 mg/L along with auxin α-naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA) at 0.5 mg/L, shoots were produced either directly or indirectly during the primary culture. Exposure to darkness and the application of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) did not promote shoot formation but were beneficial for callus stimulation. Interestingly, a negative correlation was observed between the ease of initiating cutting recovery and inducting tissue culture regeneration, suggesting that cultivars that easily regenerate through cutting might encounter difficulties during induction by tissue culture. In light of these findings, we devised a streamlined and effective protocol for rapid Heuchera propagation. This protocol involves micropropagation, directly acquiring adventitious shoots from primary cultures supplemented by cutting-based propagation methods.

A standardized protocol for genetically stable artificial seed production of Ficus religiosa L. using ISSR fingerprinting

Ficus religiosa LQuery. has several ornamental, medicinal, and economical applications. The in vivo propagation of this species has shown various limitations. Due to this reason, the present study efforts on genetically uniform artificial seed production from in vitro developed shoot tips of this species. The in vivo shoot tips were cultivated on Murashige and Skoog (MS) media containing different growth regulators. The maximum shoot response (93.67%) and the longest shoot length (3.85 cm) were exhibited with 0.5 mg L^-1 6-furfuryl-amino purine (Kn), 0.2 mg L^-1 benzyladenine (BA) and 0.1 mg L^-1 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) in combination. A treatment of 3% sodium alginate and 75 mM calcium chloride having a polymerization time of 15 min was exhibited to be superior for artificial seed production of these in vitro grown shoot tips. Artificial seed-derived micro shoots yielded the highest root response (94.44%) and roots per shoot (4.61) with 0.5 mg L^-1 indole-3-butyric acid (IBA) and 0.1 mg L^-1 BA in combination on ½-strength MS media. In comparison to 4 °C-kept artificial seeds, 24 °C-stored artificial seeds had superior germination potential across all storage times. The soil:organic manure (1:1) generated 90% of plantlet survival after 28 days of primary hardening than other mixtures tested. The secondary hardening displayed 92% of plant survival after 60 days. The banding patterns of ISSR analysis between the mother plant and hardened plants were discovered to be monomorphic. This methodology provides a promising and affordable approach to the large-scale plant production of this significant species.

Callus induction and regeneration in high-altitude Himalayan rice genotype SR4 via seed explant

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In the present study, an efficient protocol for callusing and regeneration via direct and indirect means was established using mature seeds as source of explants as they are accessible round the year and receptive to transformation via callus.

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Highest frequency (96.6%) of callus induction was obtained in MS media containing 3.0 mg/L 2, 4-D.

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Highest regeneration frequency (100%) from callus was obtained from MS media supplemented with 5.0 mg/L BAP and 0.5 mg/L NAA with highest number of shoots having an average shoot length 9.14 ± 0.204 (cm) after four weeks of culture.

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Direct multiple shoot regeneration from seed explants was obtained using various concentrations of TDZ and BAP with highest regeneration frequency was observed in MS media supplemented with 6 mg/L of TDZ with maximum number of shoots.

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The present study is attempt to develop highly efficient regeneration protocol via both direct and indirect ways utilizing mature seeds as source explant and thus can be utilized for molecular studies for genetic advancement of Himalayan rice genotype SR4 through transformation.

SR4 genotype of rice is high altitude Himalayan rice prone to various abiotic stresses such as cold stress and therefore gives a poor yield. An efficient protocol for callusing and regeneration via direct and indirect means was established using mature seeds as an explant which can be utilized for molecular studies for genetic advancement of Himalayan rice genotype SR4 through transformation. Highest frequency (96.6%) of callus induction was obtained on MS media 3.0 mg/L 2, 4-D. While maximum regeneration frequency (100%), number of shoots with maximum length 9.14 ± 0.204 (cm) from callus was recovered from MS media amended with 5.0 mg/L BAP in combination with 0.5 mg/L NAA with highest number of shoots having an average shoot length 9.14 ± 0.204 (cm) after four weeks of culture. Direct multiple shoot regeneration from seed explants was obtained using various concentrations of TDZ and BAP with highest regeneration frequency was observed on MS media fortified with 6 mg/L of TDZ with maximum number of shoots. The shoots developed roots on MS media supplemented with 0.6 mg/L IBA.

Mathematical modeling and optimizing the in vitro shoot proliferation of wallflower using multilayer perceptron non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm-II (MLP-NSGAII)

Novel computational methods such as artificial neural networks (ANNs) can facilitate modeling and predicting results of tissue culture experiments and thereby decrease the number of experimental treatments and combinations. The objective of the current study is modeling and predicting in vitro shoot proliferation of Erysimum cheiri (L.) Crantz, which is an important bedding flower and medicinal plant. Its micropropagation has not been investigated before and as a case study multilayer perceptron- non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm-II (MLP-NSGAII) can be applied. MLP was used for modeling three outputs including shoots number (SN), shoots length (SL), and callus weight (CW) based on four variables including 6-benzylaminopurine (BAP), kinetin (Kin), 1-naphthalene acetic acid (NAA) and gibberellic acid (GA₃). The R² correlation values of 0.84, 0.99 and 0.93 between experimental and predicted data were obtained for SN, SL, and CW, respectively. These results proved the high accuracy of MLP model. Afterwards the model connected to Non-dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm-II (NSGA-II) was used to optimize input variables for obtaining the best predicted outputs. The results of sensitivity analysis indicated that SN and CW were more sensitive to BA, followed by Kin, NAA and GA. For SL, more sensitivity was obtained for GA₃ than NAA. The validation experiment indicated that the difference between the validation data and MLP-NSGAII predicted data were negligible. Generally, MLP-NSGAII can be considered as a powerful method for modeling and optimizing in vitro studies.

High-frequency adventitious shoot organogenesis from in vitro stem explants of Scutellaria araxensis Grossh

The present study introduced an in vitro shoot organogenesis protocol for the medicinal plant Scutellaria araxensis (Lamiaceae). Stem, leaf, and petiole explants were cultured in half-strength Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium containing different concentrations of 6-benzylaminopurine (BAP) alone or in combination with thidiazuron (TDZ), indole-3-butyric acid (IBA), or α-naphthalene acetic acid. Callus formation occurred from stem and petiole explants in most cultures; however, in leaf explants, it was observed only in cultures containing 0.5 mg/l BAP supplemented with TDZ at all concentrations. The highest frequency of indirect shoot induction (100 and 90%) with an average of 20.33 and 12 shoots per explant was observed in stem-derived calli cultured on half-strength MS medium containing 2.0 mg/l BAP plus 0.5 and 1.5 mg/l TDZ, respectively. The best direct shoot organogenesis (40%) was observed in stem explants cultured on half-strength MS medium containing 0.5 mg/l BAP and 0.5 mg/l IBA with a mean of 18 shoots per stem explant. The regenerated micro-shoots were elongated on a medium fortified with 0.5 mg/l gibberellic acid and then successfully rooted in half-strength MS medium supplemented with 0.5 mg/l IBA. The obtained plantlets were acclimatized in a growth chamber with a survival rate of 100%. This study is the first report of a simple and efficient in vitro shoot organogenesis and regeneration protocol for S. araxensis by using stem explants, which could be useful for the conservation, genetic manipulation, and exploitation of biological molecules of this valuable genetic source.

Effect-directed profiling of Ficus religiosa leaf extracts for multipotent compounds via 12 effect-directed assays

The interest in the therapeutic values of natural compounds from plants is growing worldwide because the development of modern synthetic drugs has not lived up to expectations. The tree Ficus religiosa native to India, China and Southeast Asia is traditionally used for curing almost 50 ailments, although the majority of the individual active compounds are not known. Hence, a hyphenated high-performance thin-layer chromatography (HPTLC) method was newly developed. It allowed a physicochemical, but especially effect-directed profiling of individual compounds present in Ficus religiosa leaves obtained from four locations (in India and Germany). Extracts of different polarities were screened for bioactivity responses and most bioactivities were found in the ethyl acetate extracts. A multi-imaging via 26 different detection modes was performed, i. e. UV/Vis/FLD, 11 microchemical derivatizations and 12 effect-directed assays (EDA). By HPTLC-UV/Vis/FLD-EDA, antibiotics against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria as well as acetylcholinesterase, butyrylcholinesterase, tyrosinase, α-amylase, α-glucosidase and β-glucosidase inhibitors and radical scavenging compounds were detected. Estrogen-like or gentotoxic compounds were not detected at higher extract amounts of even 5 mg/band applied. For further characterization of three most important, multipotent, bioactive compound zones, HPTLC was hyphenated with heated electrospray ionization high-resolution mass spectrometry including fragmentation (HPTLC-HESI-HRMS/MS). Multipotent bioactive compounds discovered in the extracts were equivalently calculated in reference to well-known reference inhibitors.

Application of Artificial Neural Network for Modeling and Studying In Vitro Genotype-Independent Shoot Regeneration in Wheat

Optimizing in vitro shoot regeneration conditions in wheat is one of the important steps in successful micropropagation and gene transformation. Various factors such as genotypes, explants, and phytohormones affect in vitro regeneration of wheat, hindering the ability to tailor genotype-independent protocols. Novel computational approaches such as artificial neural networks (ANNs) can facilitate modeling and predicting outcomes of tissue culture experiments and thereby reduce large experimental treatments and combinations. In this study, generalized regression neural network (GRNN) were used to model and forecast in vitro shoot regeneration outcomes of wheat on the basis of 10 factors including genotypes, explants, and different concentrations of 6-benzylaminopurine (BAP), kinetin (Kin), 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D), indole-3-acetic acid (IAA), indole-3-butyric acid (IBA), 1-naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA), zeatin, and CuSO4. In addition, GRNN was linked to a genetic algorithm (GA) to identify an optimized solution for maximum shoot regeneration. Results indicated that GRNN could accurately predict the shoot regeneration frequency in the validation set with a coefficient determination of 0.78. Sensitivity analysis demonstrated that shoot regeneration frequency was more sensitive to variables in the order of 2,4-D > explant > genotype < zeatin < NAA. Results of this study suggest that GRNN-GA can be used as a tool, besides experimental approaches, to develop and optimize in vitro genotype-independent regeneration protocols.

Modeling and Optimizing Medium Composition for Shoot Regeneration of Chrysanthemum via Radial Basis Function-Non-dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm-II (RBF-NSGAII)

The aim of the current study was modeling and optimizing medium compositions for shoot proliferation of chrysanthemum, as a case study, through radial basis function- non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm-II (RBF-NSGAII). RBF as one of the artificial neural networks (ANNs) was used for modeling four outputs including proliferation rate (PR), shoot number (SN), shoot length (SL), and basal callus weight (BCW) based on four variables including 6-benzylaminopurine (BAP), indole-3-butyric acid (IBA), phloroglucinol (PG), and sucrose. Afterward, models were linked to the optimization algorithm. Also, sensitivity analysis was applied for evaluating the importance of each input. The R² correlation values of 0.88, 0.91, 0.97, and 0.76 between observed and predicted data were obtained for PR, SN, SL, and BCW, respectively. According to RBF-NSGAII, optimal PR (98.85%), SN (13.32), SL (4.83 cm), and BCW (0.08 g) can be obtained from a medium containing 2.16 µM BAP, 0.14 µM IBA, 0.29 mM PG, and 87.63 mM sucrose. The results of sensitivity analysis indicated that PR, SN, and SL were more sensitive to BAP, followed by sucrose, PG, and IBA. Finally, the performance of predicted and optimized medium compositions were tested, and results showed that the difference between the validation data and RBF-NSGAII predicted and optimized data were negligible. Generally, RBF-NSGAII can be considered as an efficient computational strategy for modeling and optimizing in vitro organogenesis.

Application of genetics and biotechnology for improving medicinal plants

Plant tissue culture has been used for conservation, micropropagation, and in planta overproduction of some pharma molecules of medicinal plants. New biotechnology-based breeding methods such as targeted genome editing methods are able to create custom-designed medicinal plants with different secondary metabolite profiles. For a long time, humans have used medicinal plants for therapeutic purposes and in food and other industries. Classical biotechnology techniques have been exploited in breeding medicinal plants. Now, it is time to apply faster biotechnology-based breeding methods (BBBMs) to these valuable plants. Assessment of the genetic diversity, conservation, proliferation, and overproduction are the main ways by which genetics and biotechnology can help to improve medicinal plants faster. Plant tissue culture (PTC) plays an important role as a platform to apply other BBBMs in medicinal plants. Agrobacterium-mediated gene transformation and artificial polyploidy induction are the main BBBMs that are directly dependent on PTC. Manageable regulation of endogens and/or transferred genes via engineered zinc-finger proteins or transcription activator-like effectors can help targeted manipulation of secondary metabolite pathways in medicinal plants. The next-generation sequencing techniques have great potential to study the genetic diversity of medicinal plants through restriction-site-associated DNA sequencing (RAD-seq) technique and also to identify the genes and enzymes that are involved in the biosynthetic pathway of secondary metabolites through precise transcriptome profiling (RNA-seq). The sequence-specific nucleases of transcription activator-like effector nucleases (TALENs), zinc-finger nucleases, and clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats-associated (Cas) are the genome editing methods that can produce user-designed medicinal plants. These current targeted genome editing methods are able to manage plant synthetic biology and open new gates to medicinal plants to be introduced into appropriate industries.

Modeling and Optimizing in vitro Sterilization of Chrysanthemum via Multilayer Perceptron-Non-dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm-II (MLP-NSGAII)

In vitro sterilization is a primary step of plant tissue culture which the ultimate results of in vitro culture are directly depended on the efficiency of the sterilization. Artificial intelligence models in a combination of optimization algorithms could be beneficial computational approaches for modeling and optimizing in vitro culture. The aim of this study was modeling and optimizing in vitro sterilization of chrysanthemum, as a case study, through Multilayer Perceptron- Non-dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm-II (MLP-NSGAII). MLP was used for modeling two outputs including contamination frequency (CF), and explant viability (EV) based on seven variables including HgCl₂, Ca(ClO)₂, Nano-silver, H₂O₂, NaOCl, AgNO₃, and immersion times. Subsequently, models were linked to NSGAII for optimizing the process, and the importance of each input was evaluated by sensitivity analysis. Results showed all of the R² of training and testing data were over 94%. According to MLP-NSGAII, optimal CF (0%), and EV (99.98%) can be obtained from 1.62% NaOCl at 13.96 min immersion time. The results of sensitivity analysis showed that CF and EV were more sensitive to immersion time and less sensitive to AgNO₃. Subsequently, the performance of predicted and optimized sterilants × immersion times combination were tested, and results indicated that the differences between the MLP predicted and validation data were negligible. Generally, MLP-NSGAII as a powerful methodology may pave the way for establishing new computational strategies in plant tissue culture.

Application of Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Inference System-Non-dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm-II (ANFIS-NSGAII) for Modeling and Optimizing Somatic Embryogenesis of Chrysanthemum

A hybrid artificial intelligence model and optimization algorithm could be a powerful approach for modeling and optimizing plant tissue culture procedures. The aim of this study was introducing an Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Inference System- Non-dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm-II (ANFIS-NSGAII) as a powerful computational methodology for somatic embryogenesis of chrysanthemum, as a case study. ANFIS was used for modeling three outputs including callogenesis frequency (CF), embryogenesis frequency (EF), and the number of somatic embryo (NSE) based on different variables including 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D), 6-benzylaminopurine (BAP), sucrose, glucose, fructose, and light quality. Subsequently, models were linked to NSGAII for optimizing the process, and the importance of each input was evaluated by sensitivity analysis. Results showed that all of the R² of training and testing sets were over 92%, indicating the efficiency and accuracy of ANFIS on the modeling of the embryogenesis. Also, according to ANFIS-NSGAII, optimal EF (99.1%), and NSE (13.1) can be obtained from a medium containing 1.53 mg/L 2,4-D, 1.67 mg/L BAP, 13.74 g/L sucrose, 57.20 g/L glucose, and 0.39 g/L fructose under red light. The results of the sensitivity analysis showed that embryogenesis was more sensitive to 2,4-D, and less sensitive to fructose. Generally, the hybrid ANFIS-NSGAII can be recognized as a powerful computational tool for modeling and optimizing in plant tissue culture.