Plant Tissue Culture Lecture Notes

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering the systems, techniques, and biological concepts of plant tissue culture as presented in LIFS 2080.

Totipotency

The ability of a single cell to divide and differentiate into an entire organism.

Macronutrients

Nutrients required in millimolar ($mM$) concentrations in culture media, such as nitrogen and potassium.

Micronutrients

Nutrients required in micromolar ($\mu M$) concentrations in culture media, such as boron and iron.

Auxin and Cytokinin Balances

Hormonal ratios where high auxin/low cytokinin induces roots, low auxin/high cytokinin induces shoots, and intermediate levels induce callus.

Callus Culture

A culture derived from a surface sterilized explant (typically young tissue) that undergoes dedifferentiation in the dark to form an undifferentiated cell mass.

Friable Callus

A type of callus characterized by loosely associated cells that can be easily dissociated, often used to initiate cell suspension cultures.

Cell Suspension Culture

A culture initiated from friable callus grown in a liquid medium with agitation, used for cell study, genetic engineering, and chemical production.

Agrobacterium-mediated transformation

The introduction of exogenous DNA into a cell using $\text{Agrobacterium tumefaciens}$ containing a tumor-inducing ($Ti$) plasmid.

Biolistic transformation

A method of plant transformation using a particle gun with biological ballistics to introduce DNA into cells.

Bioreactor

A special vessel providing controlled conditions for culture growth; types include stirred, bubble column, airlift, and wave-mixed.

Hairy Root Culture

Culture derived from cells transformed by $\text{Agrobacterium rhizogenes}$ ($Ri$ plasmid) to promote production of secondary metabolites or recombinant proteins.

Protoplast Culture

Culture of cells with their cell walls removed, isolated via plasmolysis and dissection or enzymatic treatment with pectinase and cellulase.

Liposome-mediated transformation

A method using phospholipid vesicles with an aqueous core to carry DNA into a cell to increase stability.

Somatic Hybridization

The fusion of two protoplasts to form a hybrid cell ($4n$) and the subsequent development of a hybrid plant.

Cybridization

The fusion of a nucleated and an enucleated protoplast to form a cytoplasmic hybrid.

Seed Culture

A culture mainly used for plants like orchids with little endosperm, requiring symbiotic germination with mycorrhizae.

Embryo Culture

Culture of mature or immature embryos from seeds or ovules to test viability, break dormancy, shorten breeding cycles, or rescue distant hybrids.

Synthetic Seeds

Artificial seeds produced by encapsulating explants in calcium alginate, prepared using sodium alginate and sucrose.

Endosperm Culture

Culture of endosperm tissue used to form triploid ($3n$) or hexaploid ($6n$) plants, often resulting in features like seedless fruit.

Colchicine

A chemical used to induce polyploidy (diploidization) by inhibiting spindle formation during cell division.

Anther Culture

Culture of anthers containing microspores to produce haploid plants, which can then be used to produce homozygous diploids.

Somaclonal Variation

Genetic variation that occurs in plants regenerated from tissue cultures.

Meristem Culture

Culture derived from shoot or root apical meristems used to minimize genetic instability and eliminate pathogens/viruses from infected plants.

Somatic Embryogenesis

The formation of an embryo from somatic cells, resulting in a bipolar structure with no vascular connection to the maternal tissue.

Organogenesis

The formation of adventitious organs (roots or shoots) resulting in a unipolar structure with a vascular connection to the maternal tissue.

Acclimatization

The process of gradually adapting in vitro plants to a new environment, such as moving from sterile containers to soil or the field.