THE ROLE OF VARIABILITY IN BIOFORTIFICATION AND IN VITRO CONSERVATION OF DIVERSED RICE LANDRACES OF WEST BENGAL

Abstract

In developing countries like India and south east Asia, biofortification is an emerging cost-effective strategy to address
global malnutrition. This strategy involves supplying of micronutrients such as iron and zinc in the staple foods by using
conventional plant breeding and biotechnology. In vitro techniques that can be applied to plant breeding programs in
order to accelerate the process of obtaining a pure line, its conservation, transgenic and developing the somaclonal
varients. An efficient in vitro plant regeneration system is required for successful crop improvement through genetic
engineering and hence present investigation aims at estimation of iron and zinc from fifteen traditional rice cultivars of
gangetic alluvial zone and to define its role in biofortification programme, conservation of these landraces with in vitro
approach. Significant variability was found for the traits taken for the study. Iron concentration ranged from 35.2 μg/g
(Ladhula) to 95.3 μg/g (Gandhibiroin) and zinc concentration ranged from 18.7 μg/g(Nakrasal) to 28.5 μg/g
(Daharnagra) in traditional rice. Also in vitro study showed good response to development of somaclonal variations in a
promising aromatic line Gandhibiroin (GB). Number of embryos per explants and percent culture with somatic embryo
was found to be 9.7 embryos per explants and 65 percent of somatic embryo development at the concentration of 10.5
μM. This study will help the researchers in the area of biotechnology and bioinformatics to produce the quality food with
full of micronutrients keeping pace with time using in vitro techniques.