Plant Cloning

cloning

The process of producing genetically identical cells or organisms from the cells of an existing organism

Natural plant clones

Produced via vegetative propagation

vegetative propagation

production of plant clones from non-reproductive tissue via asexual reproduction

examples of vegetative propagation

Rhizomes, stolons, bulbs, suckers and tubers

rhizomes

Stem structures that grow horizontally underground away from the parent plant. Have nodes from which new shoots and roots can develop. Used by bamboo plants

stolons

Grow above the ground, and new shoots and roots can develop from their nodes or from the end of the stolon. Used by strawberry plants

bulbs

An underground food store. New bulbs are able to develop from the original bulb and form new individual plants. Used by onion plants

suckers

shoots that grow from sucker buds present on the parent plants shallow roots. Used by elm trees.

tubers

large underground plant structures that act as a food store and are covered in eyes. Each eye can sprout and form a new plant. Used by potatoes.

clones from cutting method

Use a scalpel to take a cutting around 5-10cm long from the end of a stem of the parent plant. Remove any leaves from the lower end of the cutting leaving only one leaf at the tip of the cutting. Dip the lower end of the cutting into rooting powder and plant it into a pot full of well-drained compost. Provide the cutting with a warm and moist environment by placing the pot into a propagator. After the cutting forms its own roots you can plant it anywhere you want.

root cutting method

cut a piece of root from the parent plant with a straight cut. Then remove the uncut end of the root with a slanted cut

leaf cutting

remove a complete leaf from the parent plant. Score the larger veins on the lower leaf’s surface and place on top of a growth medium with the broken veins facing down. A new plant should form from each break in the veins

artificial palant cloning

tissue culture

tissue culture method

Take cells from the original plant’s stem and root tips and sterilise them to kill any other microorganisms to reduce competition and increase growth rate. Place the cells on a culture medium containing organic nutrients like amino acids and a high concentration of plant hormones like auxin. Carry this out under aspetic techniques. The cells will divide to produce a mass of undifferentiated cells. The mass can be subdivided to make many plants. Once a small plant is grown you can plant it into soil.

uses of tissue culture

to clone rare plants, plants that don’t readily reproduce, endangered species and to grow whole plants from GM cells

micropropagation

When tissue culture is used to produce lots of cloned plants very quickly. Cells are taken from developing clone plants and subcultured

for tissue culture

Desirable characteristics are always passed on, plants can be reproduced in any season due to the controlled environment, less space is required and it produces lots of plants quicker than from seeds

against tissue culture

Undesirable characteristics are always passed on to clones. Cloned plant populations have no genetic variability so one disease can wipe them all out. High production costs due to the high energy required and needing to train skilled workers and contamination by microorganisms can result in the complete loss of plants being cultured