Improvement of in vitro embryo maturation, plantlet regeneration and transformation efficiency from alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) somatic embryos using Cuscuta campestris extract

• Published in: Physiology and molecular biology of plants Vol. 22; no. 3; pp. 321 - 330
• Main Authors: Amini, Massoume, Deljou, Ali, Nabiabad, Haidar Saify
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New Delhi Springer India 01-07-2016; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Agrobacterium tumefaciens; Alfalfa; Antiinfectives and antibacterials; Antimicrobial agents; Assaying; Biological and Medical Physics; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biophysics; Cell Biology; Cuscuta campestris; Efficiency; Embryos; Explants; High-performance liquid chromatography; In vitro methods and tests; Life Sciences; Liquid chromatography; Maturation; Medicago sativa; Nutrients; Phytol; Plant extracts; Plant growth; Plant Physiology; Plant Sciences; Plantlets; Polymerase chain reaction; Regeneration; Regulators; Research Article; Somatic embryos; Tissue culture; Transgenic plants; extract; L; Embryo maturation; Somatic embryo; Cuscuta campestris extract; Medicago sativa L
• ISSN: 0971-5894; 0974-0430
• DOI: 10.1007/s12298-016-0374-y

Developmental deficiency of somatic embryos and regeneration to plantlets, especially in the case of transformation, are major problems of somatic embryo regeneration in alfalfa. One of the ways to overcome these problems is the use of natural plant regulators and nutrients in the culture medium of somatic embryos. For investigating the influence of
Cuscuta campestris
extract on the efficiency of plant regeneration and transformation, chimeric tissue type plasminogen activator was transferred to explants using
Agrobacterium tumefaciens
, and transgenic plants were recovered using medium supplemented with different concentration of the extract. Transgenic plants were analyzed by PCR and RT-PCR. Somatic embryos of
Medicago sativa
L. developed into plantlets at high frequency level (52 %) in the maturation medium supplemented with 50 mg 1
−1
C. campestris
extract as compared to the medium without extract (26 %). Transformation efficiency was 29.3 and 15.2 % for medium supplemented with dodder extract and without the extract, respectively. HPLC and GC/MS analysis of the extract indicated high level of ABA and some compounds such as Phytol, which can affect the somatic embryo maturation. The antibacterial assay showed that the extract was effective against some strains of
A. tumefaciens
. These results have provided a scientific basis for using of
C. campestris
extract as a good natural source of antimicrobial agents and plant growth regulator as well, that can be used in tissue culture of transgenic plants.