Evaluation of induction of somatic embryogenesis from cotyledonary leaves of Banana Passion fruit (Passiflora mollissima) L.H Bailey

Abstract

Passiflora mollissima  L.H Bailey is an endemic species from the Andes mountain of Colombia in South America with important edible fruits and medicinal and economical properties. The development of improved micropropagation techniques is necessary to provide rapid and efficient clonal propagation of elite genotypes with high resistance and uniform production, as well as a system that can be used for genetic transformation. For this reason, the investigation focused on the evaluation of induction of somatic embryogenesis in P. mollissima from cotyledonary leaves, the effect of growth regulator concentrations and the orientation of explants on embryo production. Histological analyses of somatic embryogenesis were performed every 10 days after induction over 38 days of exposure to the medium. Results showed somatic embryo formation on Murashige and Skoog, (1962) culture medium supplemented with 4.5 μM 2,4-diclorophenoxyacetic acid plus 4.5 μM 6-benzyladenine. The results obtained are applicable to knowledge of non-zygotic embryogenesis in passionflower of the Andean region, for the purpose of improvement and commercial use. It is noteworthy that this is the first study in the induction and obtaining of embryos in P. mollissima.