In vitro regeneration and advances in micropropagation for conservation and genetic enrichment of ginger (Zingiber...

Enormous progress has been achieved in developing reliable in vitro propagation systems, microrhizome induction, genetic fidelity assessment, and conservation strategies in ginger. These advances, combined with modern molecular and genomic tools, ensure production of uniform, disease-free planting material and future genetic advancement in ginger. Ginger (Zingiber officinale Rosc.), a crop of immense culinary, medicinal, and industrial importance, has been the subject of extensive research in tissue culture and molecular improvement. In vitro regeneration systems, including shoot organogenesis, somatic embryogenesis, and microrhizome induction, have enabled the large-scale production of disease-free, uniform planting materials, addressing the limitations of conventional rhizome propagation. Complementary conservation strategies such as slow-growth storage, cryopreservation, and synthetic seed technology safeguard valuable germplasm, while molecular marker-based fidelity testing ensures true-to-type regeneration and enriches genetic diversity. Furthermore, biotechnological interventions such as genetic transformation, induced mutagenesis, and polyploidy induction expand the scope of crop improvement, offering opportunities for enhanced yield, stress resilience, and secondary metabolite production. Despite these advances, challenges remain in up scaling microrhizome-based propagation, optimizing transformation efficiency, and translating genomic insights into applied breeding. This review consolidates the advances in in vitro propagation, conservation, fidelity analysis, and molecular breeding of ginger, while highlighting the untapped potential of CRISPR-based genome editing. Collectively, these approaches present a roadmap for sustainable ginger improvement through the convergence of biotechnology, conservation, and molecular innovation.