An Efficient Micropropagation of Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.)

A rapid and reproducible protocol for in vitro shoot induction and plantlet regeneration was achieved from the cotyledonary node and axillary buds of chickpea (Cicer arietinum L). Multiple shoots were induced from cotyledonary node and axillary buds grown on Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium (Murashige and Skoog 1962) with B5 (Gamborg et al. 1968) vitamins (MSB5) containing 6-benzylaminopurine (BAP), kinetin (KIN) and adeninedisulphate (Ads) individually. The maximum number of multiple shoots and the longest shoots were obtained from the MS medium containing 1.0 mg L-1 BAP in cotyledonary node and 1.5 mg L-1 BAP in axillary buds. Of the two different explants tested, cotyledonary nodes produced more number of shoots. Elongated shoots were harvested and subsequently transferred to MS medium containing 0.5–2.0 mg L-1 of either indole3-butyric acid (IBA), indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) or naphthalene acetic acid (NAA) for root induction. Maximum rooting response was observed in the MS medium containing 1.5 mg L-1 IBA. In vitro regenerated plantlets that were transferred to the soil medium attained 99% survival rate; the plants also looked healthy with no visually detectable phenotypic variations. This protocol yielded an average of 15 plants per cotyledonary node explant in 25-d culture.