Optimization of an Efficient Protocol for Regeneration, Rooting and Agrobacterium Transient Expression in Iranian Chickpea Cultivars

Chickpea (Cicer ariethinum L.) is a highly rich source of protein as the human food and animal feed. Chickpeas also play an important role in increasing soil fertility and can provide their required nitrogen through symbiotic fixation of atmospheric nitrogen, especially in arid regions. In this study, an efficient method has been developed to in vitro regenerate and propagate four Iranian cultivars chickpea Hashem, Azad, Arman and Saeed using the embryonic axis. This method with minor changes in hormone concentrations can be used to propagate other cultivars of chickpea. Hashem and Azad cultivars had the highest regeneration by producing more than 40 shoots and the regenerated plants were successfully rooted and transferred to pots. Also, effective factors in chickpea transformation, such as Agrobacterium strain, inoculation time and co-culture duration were investigated using GUS reporter gene and transient expression method and optimal conditions were determined.