Tissue culture-mediated biotechnological intervention in pomegranate: a review.

The past 30 years have witnessed a series of systematic biotechnological advances made in pomegranate. These encompass optimization and establishment of in vitro culture techniques including micropropagation, somatic embryogenesis, synthetic seed production, plant regeneration via callus-mediated shoot organogenesis, adventitious shoot regeneration, anther culture, tetraploid induction and genetic transformation. This review attempts to provide a comprehensive account on the tissue culture-mediated biotechnological interventions made in pomegranate aimed at complementing conventional programmes for improvement of this nutraceutically important fruit crop.