Fig 2. Explant and callus morphology over the course of callus and shoot induction phase of the replication study.

A) Representative photograph illustrating the size, colour and portion of the leaf used as leaf explants for callus induction. Midribs but not petioles are included during the dissection of the ~ 1 cm² leaflet. B) Necrotic callus of C. sativa cv. RTG after 4 months on LT-S medium. C) Cream coloured, friable callus of C. sativa cv. U91, one month after culture LT-C medium. D) Green, nodular callus of C. sativa cv. U61, one month after culture LT-C medium. E) Friable callus of C. sativa cv. RTG, two months after culture on LT-C medium, prior to transfer to shoot induction medium. F) Callus browning in C. sativa cv. U61 two months after transfer of callus onto LT-S medium. G) Some two-month-old callus on LT-S media showed only slight signs of browning with creamy and green nodular callus still present, pictured: cv. U82. H) Browning was ubiquitous across all cultivars following four months on LT-S medium, as seen by in cv. U82. I) Control leaf explants cultured on MS-0 media failed to callus, as shown by brown and dead leaf explant from cv. GRC. Scale bar in all photographs is 0.5 cm.