Micropropagation and in vitro conservation of wild Arachis species

Wild species of Arachis constitute potential sources of novel genes for groundnut improvement programs and some of them are also considered as new agricultural usage. The majority of these species occur in regions under intensive human activity and their areas of distribution are being drastically reduced, thus requiring effective conservation measures. Conservation of Arachis germplasm is usually carried out in seed banks or as live plants. However, seed renewal can be impaired by loss of germinative potential, and plant multiplication under field conditions can be limited by specific soil and environmental requirements or by low seed yield. Therefore, complementary in vitro methodologies represent an important tool for ex situ conservation of Arachis germplasm. In this work, we analyse the state of art of micropropagation and the use of in vitro conservation methodologies for wild relatives of the groundnut.