Comparison of regeneration potentials in tissue cultures of primitive and cultivated tomato species (Lycopersicon sp.)

Abstract

Regeneration capacities of two tomato cultivars: Potentat and Rutgers, and of three accessions of wild tomato species: Lycopersicon peruvianum PI 128650, L. peruvianum var. dentatum PI 128655 and L. glandulosum were studied using an universal medium suitable for regeneration of those plants from leaf pieces in tissue culture. Fragments of leaf blades were taken from plants raised in greenhouse conditions and placed on a modified MS medium containing 0.3 mg/l IAA and 3.0 mg/l BAP solidified with 1% agar. The explants were transferred every 4-5 weeks on fresh medium of the same composition. It was shown that all the three primitive tomato species revealed much higher multiplication coefficients than the two cultivars. Appropriate values were: 11 - for L. glandulosum, 8 - for L. peruvianum, 7 - for L. peruvianum var. dentatum, 4 - for L. esculentum cv. Potentat and 2 - cv. Rutgers. Completely regenerated plants were obtained from all the tested species, but organogenesis occurred almost two weeks earlier in wild tomatoes than in the culitivated varieties of L. esculentum.