Genetic engineering of crop plants relies on the development of efficient
methods for the regeneration of viable shoots from cultured tissues. The
objective of the present study was to develop a protocol for efficient shoot
and plant regeneration from seedling explants of commercial cauliflower
(B. oleracea var. botrytis)
genotypes and to compare the regeneration capacity of the most commonly used
explants: cotyledon, hypocotyl, and root. A combination of growth hormones
including 6-benzylaminopurine, 1-naphthylacetic acid, and gibberellic acid was
used in the MS-based medium, and factors influencing regeneration of
shoots were investigated. Using the protocol described here, shoots from
hypocotyl, cotyledon, and root explants of all the 11 genotypes tested were
able to be regenerated. Root and hypocotyl explants produced more callus than
cotyledon explants and also were more responsive to shoot regeneration, as a
high percentage (>71% and >80% for hypocotyl and roots,
respectively) of shoot initiation from these explants was observed. In
addition, root and hypocotyl explants also produced more shoots per explant
than cotyledon explants. The in vitro regenerated shoots were successfully
rooted and acclimatised to glasshouse conditions. This study shows that
seedling explants of cauliflower are amenable to multiple shoot formation with
high regeneration frequencies, and could be used for genetic transformation
experiments.