Sesame (Sesamum indicum L.) is the oldest important edible oilseed crop found throughout many tropical and subtropical regions of the world. India ranks second in its domestication with a total production of 0.67 million tons. The growth index of sesame in Asia, Africa, and South and Central America is 54.9%, 40.8%, and 4.3%, respectively. The crop has high economic potential but stress factors like temperature sensitivity, early senescence, pest attack, water logging, and disease infestations limit its productivity worldwide. Its recalcitrant nature, sexual incompatibility, and post fertilization barriers greatly restrict the generation of new varieties, via tissue culture and traditional breeding strategies. Thus, genetic engineering appears to be the best alternative to improve its yield by developing stress-tolerant plants. The callus induction and regeneration frequency in sesame is highly genotype dependent. Regeneration is observed in different cultivars via callus phase or directly from different explants mainly on Murashige and Skoog basal medium (MS) with high cytokinin and low auxin concentrations. The attempts towards developing genetic transformation protocols has resulted in very limited success. The present review highlights the history and discusses the detailed progress of sesame tissue culture and genetic transformation research with respect to genotype dependency, different medium compositions, plant hormones, and explant age.

芝麻（Sesamum indicum L.）是世界许多热带和亚热带地区发现的最古老的重要食用油籽作物。印度的驯化量位居第二，总产量为67万吨。亚洲、非洲、中南美洲芝麻生长指数分别为54.9%、40.8%、4.3%。该作物具有很高的经济潜力，但温度敏感性、早衰、害虫侵袭、水涝和病害等胁迫因素限制了其在全球范围内的生产力。它的顽抗性、性不亲和性和受精后障碍极大地限制了新品种的产生，通过组织培养和传统育种策略。因此，基因工程似乎是通过开发抗逆植物来提高产量的最佳选择。芝麻中愈伤组织的诱导和再生频率高度依赖于基因型。在不同品种中通过愈伤组织阶段或直接从不同的外植体中观察到再生，主要在具有高细胞分裂素和低生长素浓度的 Murashige 和 Skoog 基础培养基 (MS) 上。开发遗传转化方案的尝试取得了非常有限的成功。本文重点介绍了芝麻组织培养和遗传转化研究的历史，并讨论了基因型依赖性、不同培养基成分、植物激素和外植体年龄等方面的详细进展。