By: Hannah Lee
Tissue culture has made large contributions to the field of agricultural biotechnology. It has greatly helped scientists to alter plants to have more desirable qualities such as having higher nutritional content or being more disease resistant.
The Process:
The idea of tissue culture is actually quite simple. Plant cells are first taken from different parts of the desired plants and placed in vitro on Petri plates that don’t contain growth hormones, this way cells don’t differentiate and instead form a callus. Scientists can then take the callus and place them in culture with specific nutrients in a controlled environment. The cells in the tissue then grow to form a clone of the desired plant. Tissue culture in plants is often used to mass-produce plants. A specific type of tissue culture, micropropagation, greatly increases plant production, making plants grow larger and taller in less time; micropropagation is often used in the commercial production of plants and in large scale planting.
Technology:
Plant tissue must first be sterilized before being placed in a culture medium; common chemicals used for sterilization are bactericide and fungicide. When placed in culture, the tissue must have various types of nutrients including micronutrients, macronutrients and vitamins. A pH of about 5.4 - 5.8 must also be maintained to keep the culture in optimal conditions. Plant growth regulators (PGRs), chemicals used to modify and assist plant growth, play an important role in tissue culture. Commonly used PGRs are auxins, cytokinins, and gibberellins. The amount of each regulator used depends upon the type of plant, the tissue being cultured, and the goal of the cloning.
Important and Application:
Orchids have been modified through tissue culture to create different species and hybrids to better suit its needs. Orchids have several commercial uses, it is used for its beauty, food purposes, and medicinal purposes as well. Tissue culture has allowed foreign exchange of these flowers to increase.
Another example is the multiplication and regeneration of the potato. As potatoes have great nutritional value and are commonly consumed, tissue culture is often used to mass produce the plant.
Sources:
“How Is Tissue Culture Done?” Passel, https://passel2.unl.edu/view/lesson/54f48d0cd240/4.
Plant Growth Regulators. http://omafra.gov.on.ca/english/crops/hort/plantgrowthregulators.htm.
“Plant Tissue Culture: Current Status and Opportunities.” IntechOpen, https://www.intechopen.com/chapters/40180.
“Pocket K No. 14: Tissue Culture Technology.” Tissue Culture Technology | ISAAA.org, https://www.isaaa.org/resources/publications/pocketk/14/default.asp.
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