Understanding the effects of mammalian sex hormones in the in vitro regeneration of Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) using machine learning techniques

Abstract The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of certain mammalian sex hormones (MSH) as an alternative to synthetic hormones in chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) tissue culture using mathematical models. In this research four different types of explants, including embryo, hypocotyl, plumule and radicle, were treated with four different concentrations (0, 0.1, 0.001 and 0.00001 µM) of four mammalian sex hormones (17β-estradiol, estrogen, progesterone and testosterone). It was found that different explants, MSH and their concentrations had a significant effect on the formation of morphogenesis. The type of explant significantly affected shoot and root formation, and the effect of MSH concentration on root formation. Based on the results of the study, it was concluded that it would be expedient to use plumula as a source of explants in chickpea tissue culture. As a result, the use of 0.001 µM progesterone showed positive effects in chickpea in vitro culture medium. The XGBoost model outperformed in predicting all variables based on high R-squared values, low mean square error, and mean absolute deviation. Sensitivity analysis within the XGBoost model revealed that plumule was the most influential variable for predicting the number of explants undergoing morphogenesis (40.29%) and the number of shoots–forming explants (33.83%), while concentration 0.001 µM played a significant role in determining the number of roots–forming explants (47.49%). Consequently, it was shown that mammalian sex hormones have the potential for use in the in vitro cultivation of chickpeas. Additionally, the utilization of the XGBoost model was found to be effective in forecasting outcomes and facilitating optimization in this context.