Journal of Applied Horticulture. 2001: 3(1): 17-22

Plant regeneration from zygotic embryo hypocotyls of Tunisian chili (Capsicum annuum L.)

Arous, S; Boussaid, M; Marrakchi, M

Faculte des Sciences de Tunis, Campus Universitaire, Tunis, Tunisia.

This paper reports the regeneration of Tunisian pepper cultivar from zygotic embryos cultured in vitro. Zygotic embryos of the Tunisian cultivar D'hirat cultured in vitro developed adventitious buds. The best results for bud induction were obtained in the Murashige and Skoog medium, supplemented with 5 mg benzylaminopurine (BA)/litre and 1 mg NAA/litre. The important effect of BA in adventitious bud formation was demonstrated. Shoot bud development was enhanced by the addition of gibberellic acid to the medium. Plants were rooted in half-strength Murashige and Skoog medium and transferred into pots, containing loam. To test the stability of the regenerants, characters related to the fertility, fruit quality, leaf and flower were measured. Regenerants and their progeny were compared to the control plants derived from seeds. Variance analysis and CANDISC were used. No significant differences were detected between the regenerants and the control plants for the characters tested.