The Effect of culture conditions and medium on the in-vitro cultivation of three species of duckweed native to Iran as a plant with biotechnological applications

Taghipour, Elham; Rad, Nima; Shojaei, Sadegh; Arezoumandi, Mahdi; Frootan, Fateme; Yaghoubi, Sara; Jafari, Mahyat; Salmanian, Ali Hatef

doi:10.22034/jpr.2024.8458.3356

The Effect of culture conditions and medium on the in-vitro cultivation of three species of duckweed native to Iran as a plant with biotechnological applications

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

elham taghipour ¹

nima rad ²

sadegh shojaei ²

Mahdi Arezoumandi ²

fateme frootan ²

sara Yaghoubi ²

mahyat jafari ²

Ali Hatef Salmanian ³

¹ National Institute of Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (NIGEB), Department of Agricultural Biotechnology

² National Institute of Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (NIGEB), Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, Tehran, Iran.

³ Faculty member/ NIGEB

10.22034/jpr.2024.8458.3356

Abstract

Duckweed is the world's smallest aquatic plant with six species found on the surface of the Iran’s wetlands. Duckweeds having unique characteristics in growth, protein, and nutritional content, have been considered for biotechnological applications and food security. For further study, optimization of cultivation under controlled conditions should be considered. For this purpose, four culture mediums Hoagland, MS, SH, and NF were used and the relative growth rate (RGR), doubling time (DT), and biomass accumulation (BA) were investigated. Hoagland's liquid medium with the average doubling time of fronds every 2.8 days and biomass doubling every 1.2 days for Lemna minor and Spirodela polyrhiza and accumulation of biomass every 1.2 days for the edible species Wolffia spp. was recognized as the best medium. Also, tissue culture optimization of the duckweed is needed to facilitate their genetic engineering. The results showed that MS solid medium in the presence of 15 µM 2,4-D and 7.5 µM BAP supplemented with 2% sucrose, significantly stimulates the highest percentage of callus induction in the Lemna species. Also, the highest rate of regeneration (83%) was obtained in the presence of BAP with a concentration of 4 µM and 1% sucrose. These data show that duckweed native to Iran (L. minor) can be grown in-vitro under laboratory conditions, and due to its high nutritional value, it can be used as a potentially rich source of protein as a supplement to food and feed and to produce recombinant proteins should be investigated.

Keywords

duckweed

tissue culture

relative growth rate

Lemna minor

food security

Subjects