Factors affecting regeneration of bambara groundnut [Vigna subterranea (L.) Verdc.] from mature embryo axes

A rapid and efficient regeneration procedure via direct organogenesis from mature embryo axes of ten landraces of bambara groundnut has been developed. Embryo axis cultured on hormone-free Murashige and Skoog (MS; Murashige and Skoog, Physiol Plant 15:473-497, 1962) medium produced only single plants, while multiple shoots were produced at the nodal and apical regions of explants within 3-4 wk of culture on MS medium plus B5vitamins (Gamborg et al., Exp Cell Res 50:151-158, 1968) and supplemented with cytokinins such as 6-benzylaminopurine (BAP), kinetin, zeatin, and thidiazuron alone or in combination with α-naphthaleneacetic acid. BAP proved to be the most effective cytokinin tested in this study. The shoot-forming ability of embryo axis was influenced by BAP concentration, and optimal BAP concentration was determined. Vertical orientation of explants on the medium was significantly better than the horizontal position for shoot induction. Genotypes also showed significant differences in their regeneration in terms of percent response (28.77 ± 3.83-77.70 ± 10.64%) as well as an average number of shoots per explant (5.44-12.63). Regenerated shoots elongated in the same medium and rooted upon transfer to full-strength MS medium devoid of growth regulators. Regenerated plants were successfully transferred to soil and all surviving plants were morphologically normal.