Lecture 18: Plant tissue culture

Tissue culture

The maintenance and growth of explanted plant tissue in culture away from the source organism

Organ culture

An organ (flower bud, immature fruit) is grown isolated from the parent plant

Embryo culture

Isolated or immature embryo is used

Tissue Culture

Excised tissue is grown to regenerate organs or whole plants

Suspension culture

Isolated cells are grown in a liquid medium

Steps in Tissue Culture

1. Select a healthy plant and excise tissue
2. Surface sterilise the tissue using sodium hypochlorite
3. Place tissue in solid medium containing hormones and nutrients
4. An undifferentiated ball of cells (callus) will form
5. Place callus in fresh medium to allow differentiation

A range of auxin: cytokinin is used to optimise growth and dev

Applications of plant tissue culture

* Used for micropropagation
* Production of high value products
* Genetic manipulation of plants