Effect of silver nitrate (AgNO3) and copper sulphate (CuSO4) on callus formation and plant regeneration from tow pepper varieties (Chile Ancho and Misraty) in vitro

Abstract

This study was conducted at the Libyan center for biotechnology research laboratories in order to study the effect of different concentrations of silver nitrate and copper sulfate on the callus formation and plant regeneration of two varieties of pepper plant (Misraty and Chile Ancho). Silver nitrate (AgNO3) was added at a concentration of 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 µM/L /L in the culture media, while copper sulphate (CuSO4) was added at concentrations of 0.1 (concentration of copper sulfate in MS standard medium), 0.5, 1, 2, 3 and 4 µM/L  with presence of 17.8 µM/L  of Kin and 1.7 µM/L  of NAA. The results indicated that adding silver nitrate to the culture medium did not have a positive effect on the rate of callus formation, while it increased the number of plant growths, especially at a concentration of 30 µM/L .As for copper sulfate, the results showed that, for the plant growth parameter there were no significant differences among the treatments of 2.0, 3.0 and 4.0 µM/L  compared to the control treatment in Chile Ancho variety, while the number of seedlings and leaves of the obtained plants improved by increasing the concentration of copper sulfate to record the best average of 4.5 and 7.2, respectively, at a concentration of 3 µM/L . Furthermore for the Misraty variety, the results proved that addition of copper sulfate did not have a positive effect on the rate of callus formation, but it effectively affected the plant growth parameter the percentage of plant growth increased from 15% in the control treatment to 45% in treatment of 3 µM/L. The results showed also that the number of leaves increased by increasing the concentration of copper sulfate by recording average of 7.5 leaves at the treatment of 3 µM/L.