Assessment of the polyamines modulation on cytokinins and ethylene and its effect in lemon (Citrus limon) de novo regeneration

A highly productive and robust adventitious organogenesis protocol is key as an initial step when lemon in vitro mutagenesis or genetic transformation are addressed. Many molecules play a major role on plant regeneration, and in this study, the addition of the main naturally-occurring polyamines (spermine, spermidine, and putrescine) and their effect on endogenous cytokinins and on ethylene production have been analyzed in explants of the lemon ( Citrus limon ) cultivar ‘Verna 51’.The three polyamines were added to the organogenesis media, and the regeneration rate and percentage were recorded. Changes produced in the endogenous cytokinins along with ethylene production were studied. Polyamines were shown to play an important role in the adventitious shoot regeneration of ‘Verna 51’. However, this effect would not be related to ethylene production since changes were not detected. Comparing the three studied polyamines, it is possible to conclude that, within the studied doses, spermine (0.2 mM) and spermidine (0.3 and 0.6 mM) are more useful to induce organogenesis than putrescine in ‘Verna 51’. In the most regenerative treatments, lower concentrations of cytokinins were found, which could indicate a correlation between the addition of polyamines to the culture media, the adventitious regeneration, and the metabolism of cytokinins. Key message Polyamines are able to modulate de novo plant regeneration through changes produced in the endogenous cytokinins while do not appear to interfere directly in the ethylene production in lemon tissues.