In vitro peanut culture: from seed to seed

Authors: Faustinelli, Paola

Submitted to: Current Protocols in Plant Biology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 10/3/2023
Publication Date: 11/6/2023
Citation: Faustinelli, P.C. 2023. In vitro peanut culture: from seed to seed. Current Protocols in Plant Biology. 3(11). Article e918. https://doi.org/10.1002/cpz1.918.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/cpz1.918

Interpretive Summary: This protocol to micropropagate Georgia 06G peanuts and induce flowers and pegs, allows for the completion of the life cycle under in vitro conditions. Peanut in vitro culture has the advantage that plants obtained are free of diseases, are obtained in a short period, year-round, and in a relatively small space. Although this propagation system is expensive and laborious, it has not ceased to be an option for researchers who need to preserve and multiply the genetic characteristics of a particular plant. Obtaining peanut flowers and pods in a pathogen-free environment creates the opportunity for studies requiring rigorous control of variables, i.e., detection of exogenous duplexes to control aflatoxin contamination in peanuts, or identification of principles for genetic control in peg development to strategically improve pegging in peanuts.

Technical Abstract: In vitro plants are widely used in biotechnology studies. In general, tissue culture requires special skills in order to obtain healthy and fertile axenic plants. Peanuts are considered recalcitrant, meaning they are difficult to regenerate under in vitro conditions. Thus, in vitro completion of the peanut plant cycle is the limiting factor in projects that require plant and seed recovery when applying molecular tools such as CRISPR (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats). The protocol presented here allows for obtaining multiple shoots by micropropagation, that were induced to produce flowers which successfully resulted in fertile pegs and pods, completing the life cycle under in vitro conditions. This is a significant step to perform studies that require axenic conditions in their entirety. This protocol outlines the steps required to micropropagate Georgia 06G peanut plants in aseptic conditions, prepare culture media, maintain shoot multiplication cultures, induce flowering and pegging, and maintain culture conditions to allow the development of pods.