clones in plants

outline the steps in cuttings

select healthy plants

cut stem at slant between two different nodes

dip stem in rooting hormone (auxins)

plant in soil/water

cover with plastic bag to reduce transpiration

outline the steps in micropropagation

1) explant is cut from axial buds or shoot tips 2) sterilise explants with bleach or ethanol 3) place the explants in a sterile growth medium 4) the explant will divide into a callus 5) callus is divided to produce many clumps of undifferentiated cells 6) move clumps to different growth medium so they can grow and differentiate 7)tiny plantlets form and are transferred to soil and greenhouse

advantages of artificial cloning

rapid method of producing new plants

cloning can be carried out where sexual reproduction is not possible

the plants selected will be genetically identical to the parent plant so share same desirable characteristics

new plants will be uniform in their phenotype so are easier to harvest

using the meristem for the explant ensures that the clone is free from virus

disadvantages of artificial cloning

tissue culture is labour intensive

it is expensive to set up

can fail due to microbial contamination

all offspring susceptible to same diseases

no genetic variation