Synergistic effect of silver nitrate and coconut water on shoot differentiation and plant regeneration from cultured cotyledons of Capsicum annuum L.

Chili pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) ranks among the most important vegetable crop belonging to the family Solanaceae that is consumed both as vegetable and spice throughout the world. C. annuum, as crop, in order to meet the target yield, demands improved variety that could overcome environmental challenges viz. biotic and abiotic stress. Cultivar improvement essentially requires an efficient in vitro regeneration protocol. 'In the present study, we investigated the influence of silver nitrate (AgNO3) and coconut water, individually as well in combination, on in vitro shoot elongation and plant regeneration from cotyledon explants of C. annuum cv G-4. Shoot buds were induced on shoot bud induction medium supplemented with either 44.38 mu M 6-benzylaminopurine (BAP) or 9.0 mu M thidiazuron (TDZ) along with 5.77 mu M gibberellic acid (GA(3)) and 14.7 mu M phenyl acetic acid (PAA). Elongation of shoot buds was obtained on elongation medium containing 8.87 mu M BA or 0.45 mu M TDZ, 5.77 mu M GA(3) and 14.7 mu M PAA followed by rooting in 9.8 mu M indole-3-butyric acid (IBA). All the media were supplemented with 30 mu M AgNO3 and/or coconut water (10% v/v). The presence of coconut water in the elongation media enhanced the regeneration of well developed shoots from differentiating explants on TDZ media while AgNO3 resulted in enhanced production of rooted shoots with greater influence on emerging shoots from BAP media upon transfer to rooting media. There was synergistic response with further enhancement of elongated shoots/elongated rooted shoots on the combined use of coconut water and AgNO3. The elongation media produced significantly higher total shoots when AgNO3 was used synergistically with coconut water (59.0%) as against AgNO3 alone (38.0%). While in rooting media, there was significantly higher production of elongated rooted shoots when coconut water was used synergistically with AgNO3 (47.2%) as against the coconut water alone (14.4%).