PLANT CELL BIOTECHNOLOGY AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY

Coconut (Cocos nucifera L.) serves as a cornerstone of tropical and subtropical agricultural economies, supporting the livelihoods of millions of farming households. Yet, coconut production remains constrained by pressing challenges such as climate change, increasing pest and disease pressure, aging plantations, and the inherently slow and genetically variable nature of traditional seed-based propagation. Conventional methods, while foundational, are limited by prolonged juvenile phases, genetic heterogeneity, disease susceptibility, and extended cultivation timelines. The socio-economic significance of the palm combined with the need for scalable production of elite quality plants, has prompted the adoption of in vitro culture techniques to optimize clonal multiplication and crop improvement. Remarkable progress in coconut biotechnology has introduced somatic embryogenesis, androgenesis, and cryopreservation as pivotal tools to address these bottlenecks, offering novel solutions for accelerated breeding, germplasm conservation, and mass production of uniform planting material. Nonetheless, widespread adoption of these innovations is hampered by persistent hurdles including tissue recalcitrance, low regeneration frequencies, and genetic instability in vitro. To fully realize the transformative potential of coconut tissue culture, ongoing research and technological advancements are essential for improving protocol reproducibility, enhancing genetic fidelity, and standardizing regeneration systems. Omics approaches enhance coconut tissue culture by elucidating molecular mechanisms through integrated analyses of the genome, transcriptome, proteome, and metabolome, this review highlights the current progress in coconut tissue culture based on the reports available as well as the results from our own lab, critically examining methodologies, applications, technical challenges, and the future directions required for sustainable crop improvement and conservation.