Abstract

The bud induction obtained is a simple and efficient protocol developed for in vitro propagation of five varieties of cultivars. Seeds of Capsicum annuum L. of five varieties red, yellow, green, purple and white were decontaminated and placed in a culture bottle containing a Murashige and Skoog medium, supplemented with 6-benzylaminopurine (BAP, 5 mg/l) and naphthalene acetic acid (NAA, 1 mg/l) or indole-3- acetic acid (IAA, 0.5 mg/l) and then were incubated in the dark for 10 - 12 days for germination. Leaf explants excised from 4 weeks -old aseptic seedlings were cultured on a MS medium supplemented with hormones BAP, kinetin (Kin), the combination of BAP + Kin, BAP with NAA (0.1 or 0.01 mg/l) and BAP with IAA (0.5 mg/l). The 2.0 mg/l BAP with 0.1 mg/l NAA media was observed to be more suitable for callus formation. The highest number of regenerated shoot buds was obtained when shoot explants were cultured on a MS medium supplemented with 2.0 mg/l BAP and 0.5 mg/l IAA. The mean number of shoot per explants was obtained in red (6.3), yellow (3.6), purple (3.3), and white (3.0) variety of C. annuum whereas 3.0 mg/l BAP and 0.5 mg/l IAA were observed to be more suitable for green (6.6) variety of C. annuum. Plantlets were successfully acclimatized in greenhouse.

Key words: Capsicum, auxin, cytokinin, micropropagation, organogenesis, sweet pepper.

Abbreviation

Abbreviations: BAP, 6-Benzylaminopurine; IAA, indole-3- acetic acid; Kin, kinetin; TDZ, thidiazuron; GA₃, gibberellic acid.