Leaf morphology and shoot regeneration of in vitro cultured explants from species of the Solanum peruvianum s.l. complex

We studied leaf morphology in in vitro plants of species segregated from the Solanum peruvianum L. s.l. complex: S. arcanum Peralta, S. corneliomulleri J.F.Macbr., S. huaylasense Peralta, and S. peruvianum L. s.str. In these species, the regeneration ability from root and leaf explants cultured in vitro in 2 organogenic media (SIM-1 and SIM-2) was also evaluated in a total of 16 accessions. These species can be differentiated by the number of leaflets, leaflet dentation of the in vitro cultured plants, and leaf area (for S. arcanum). Regarding regeneration, intraspecific and interspecific variability was observed. The accession LA-2185 of S. arcanum and the accessions ECU-106 and CH-20 of S. peruvianum s.str. can be considered low regenerating, whereas the rest of the accessions had a good and high regeneration capacity. Despite the 4 species being able to regenerate from root explants, leaf explants have been selected as more appropriate for in vitro regeneration. Better results were also obtained in the organogenic medium SIM-1 with respect to SIM-2. Interestingly, explants from leaves with a high amount and more dentate leaflets had high regeneration.