Scenario of in Vitro Regeneration and Transformation Studies in Multipurpose Sesbania Species

Sesbania species grow mainly in tropical and subtropical regions of the world as multipurpose legume crops. These are very important part of sustainable agriculture and also for diverse industrial or other uses. But their production has compromised due to lack of interest among farmers and presence of constraints, rendering it appropriate to use as a food crop. Improvement has lagged in Sesbania species because of the unavailability of the gene pool, along with self-incompatibility in closely related species. Lacunae in improvement of its species could overcome with the help of biotechnological tools that could transfer genes in distantly related species, too. Mostly, an efficient and reproducible regeneration system is a prerequisite for efficient transgenic plant production. However, progress has made towards in vitro regeneration in various Sesbania species such as S. bispinosa, S. grandiflora, S. sesban using hypocotyl explants and using cotyledonary node explants in S. drumondii and S. rostrata. Considerable success has also been obtained in plant regeneration via somatic embryos in S. sesban and via protoplasts in S. bispinosa. But, till date only in S. drumondii one report on generation of transgenic plants is available, where T0 plants have been obtained using cotyledonary node explants. In this regard, the current paper highlights the in vitro regeneration and genetic transformation protocols developed so far in Sesbania species along with future directives towards improvement of this important genus.