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Shoot production per responsive leaf explant increases exponentially with explant organogenic potential in Nicotiana species

Plant Cell Reports volume 22, pages 231–238 (2003)Cite this article

Abstract

As part of the effort to develop optimal plant varieties for the production and molecular farming of plant-made pharmaceuticals, this study evaluated shoot organogenic potential of a total of 115 Nicotiana accessions, representing 53 species. To induce shoots, leaves from seedling grown in vitro were cut into pieces, cultured on shoot-induction medium under low light for 3 weeks, and then subcultured onto the same medium for another 4 weeks under normal light. Statistical analysis detected significant differences among the 115 accessions for the percentage of leaf explants producing shoots and the number of shoots produced per responsive leaf explant. Importantly, regression analysis also found an exponential relationship between the number of shoots produced per responsive leaf explant and the percentage of leaf explants producing shoots. The number of shoots produced per responsive leaf explant increased rather slowly, ranging from zero to around five, as the percentage of leaf explants producing shoots increased from 0 to 80%, but the increase became dramatic as the percentage increased from 80% to 100%, reaching as high as 35 shoots per responsive leaf explant. This exponential relationship is the first of its kind to be established in plant regeneration studies using either organogenesis or somatic embryogenesis systems. A possible mechanism that governs the establishment of the exponential relationship is discussed.

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Fig. 1.
Fig. 2A–D.

Abbreviations

2ip :

6-(δ,δ-Dimethylallylamino)-purine

BA :

Benzylaminopurine

IAA :

Indole-3-acetic acid

LS :

Linsmaier and Skoog

MS :

Murashige and Skoog

PI :

Plant introduction number

PMP :

Plant-made pharmaceuticals

SIM :

Shoot induction medium

USDA :

US Department of Agriculture

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Acknowledgements

We thank Drs. Verne Sisson, Robert Miller and Milton Zaitlin for kindly providing the seeds for Nicotiana species, Dr. Maelor Davies for his support and critical discussions on data analysis and manuscript preparation, Dr. Glenn Collins for helpful discussions, Dr. Helena Truszczynska for statistical analysis, and Rich Mundell, Ruth Babbit, Dr. Satakanta Pattanaik, Dr. Orlando Chambers, Dr. Indu Maiti, Dr. Deane Falcone, and Dr. David Zaitlin for collecting seeds, sharing germination/regeneration protocols, or discussions.

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  1. Kentucky Tobacco Research and Development Center, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40546-0236, USA

    B. Li, W. Huang & T. Bass

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  1. B. Li
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  2. W. Huang
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  3. T. Bass
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Correspondence to B. Li.

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Communicated by G.C. Phillips

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Li, B., Huang, W. & Bass, T. Shoot production per responsive leaf explant increases exponentially with explant organogenic potential in Nicotiana species. Plant Cell Rep 22, 231–238 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00299-003-0679-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00299-003-0679-5

Keywords

  • Exponential relationship
  • Leaf explants
  • Nicotiana
  • Shoot organogenesis