Abstract Detail

Developmental and Structural Section

Todorov, Toma [1], Tingey, Chris [2], Kopp, Olga [3].

Inducing Somatic Embryogenesis On Thai (Capsicum annuum) Callus.

Capsicum annuum, more commonly known as chili peppers, originates from the West Indies and Central and South America but is cultivated and used around the world. It is a species that holds both economic and scientific importance. The species C. annuum produces a unique secondary metabolite, capsaicin. The amount of capsaicin in a pepper is what gives the pepper its spiciness, and has been shown to have a wide variety of medicinal uses; researchers have discovered that capsaicin can treat pain and cause apoptosis in certain cancer cells in vitro. C. annuum is known to be a difficult species to culture in vitro; however, in vitro culture can be used to boost the production of secondary metabolites. The discovery of such a protocol would allow researchers access to a greater number of plants even if seed yields are low, and opens the door to possible genetic manipulation of the embryo. This research aims to create a viable micropropagation protocol for the species C. annuum, specifically the Thai ornamental variety. The micropropagation process can generally be split into three stages, induction of callus, conversion of callus to somatic embryos, and the development of said embryos into plants. This work centers on the second step, somatic embryogenesis. Previous work in the lab has shown that a large amount of callus can be induced on Thai leaf explants using 5µM BAP and 2.5µM 2,4-D. This research focuses converting the callus from leaf explants into somatic embryos. Murashige & Skoog (MS) media amended with 3% sucrose and different concentrations of auxins ranging from 4µM to 18µM were evaluated. After 5 weeks, the explants were cut into roughly two equal portions, with half transplanted to media containing a cytokine and the other half onto M.S. media with no growth regulators in order to the effect on induction of embryogenesis. These results will be presented along with any organogenesis observations.

1 - Utah Valley University, Biology, 800 W University Pkwy, Orem, UT, 84058, USA
2 - Utah Valley University, Biology, 800 W University Pkwy, Orem, Ut
3 - Utah Valley University, Biology, 800 West University Parkway, MS 299, Orem, UT, 84058-5999, USA

Keywords:
Capsicum annuum
Somatic Embryogenesis
Micropropagation.

Presentation Type: Poster:Posters for Sections
Session: P
Location: Hall D/The Shaw Conference Centre
Date: Monday, July 27th, 2015
Time: 5:30 PM
Number: PDS009
Abstract ID:155
Candidate for Awards:Developmental and Structural Section best poster