Eggplant (Solanum melongena L.): tissue culture, genetic transformation and use as an alternative model plant

Abstract

Eggplant is an agronomically important non-tuberous solanaceous crop grown primarily for its large oval fruit. In popular medicine, eggplant is indicated for the treatment of several diseases, including diabetes, arthritis, asthma and bronchitis. Eggplant is susceptible to a number of diseases and pests capable of causing serious crop losses. This problem has been addressed by hybridizing eggplant with wild resistant Solanum species, which present a wide genetic diversity and are source of useful agronomic traits. The application of in vitro methodologies to eggplant has resulted in considerable success. Eggplant tissues present a high morphogenetic potential that is useful for developmental studies as well as for establishing biotechnological approaches to produce improved varieties, such as embryo rescue, in vitro selection, somatic hybridization and genetic transformation. Taken together, these characteristics also make eggplant a complete model for studies on different areas of plant science, including control of gene expression and assessment of genetic stability of somaclones derived from different morphogenetic processes. In the present study, important factors that affect the efficiency of in vitro regeneration through organogenesis and embryogenesis as well as genetic transformation are analyzed. The potential of this species as a model plant for studying various aspects of plant genetics and physiology is also discussed.