Advances in plant biotechnology provide new options for collection, multiplication and short-to long-term conservation of plant biodiversity, using in vitro culture techniques. Significant progress has been made for conserving endangered, rare, crop ornamental, medicinal and forest species, especially for non-orthodox seed and vegetatively propagated plants of temperate and tropical origin. Cell and tissue culture techniques ensure the rapid multiplication and production of plant material under aseptic conditions. Medium-term conservation by means of in vitro slow growth storage allows extending subcultures from several months to several years, depending on the species. Cryopreservation (liquid nitrogen, −196 °C) is the only technique ensuring the safe and cost-effective long-term conservation of a wide range of plant species. Cryopreservation of shoot tips is also being applied to eradicate systemic plant pathogens, a process termed cryotherapy. Slow growth storage is routinely used in many laboratories for medium-conservation of numerous plant species. Today, the large-scale, routine application of cryopreservation is still restricted to a limited number of cases. However, the number of plant species for which cryopreservation techniques are established and validated on a large range of genetically diverse accessions is increasing steadily.

In commercial micropropagation laboratories, the light source is one of the most important factors controlling plant morphogenesis and metabolism of plant cells and tissue and organ cultures. Lamp manufacturers have begun to rate lamps specifically for plant needs. The traditional light source used for in vitro propagation is fluorescent lamps (FLs). However, power consumption in FL use is expensive and produces a wide range of wavelengths (350-750 nm) unnecessary for plant development. Light-emitting diodes (LEDs) have recently emerged as an alternative for commercial micropropagation. The flexibility of matching LED wavelengths to plant photoreceptors may provide more optimal production, influencing plant morphology and chlorophyll content. Although previous reports have confirmed physiological effects of LED light quality on morphogenesis and growth of several plantlets in vitro, these study results showed that LED light is more suitable for plant morphogenesis and growth than FLs. However, the responses vary according to plant species. This chapter describes the applications and benefits of LED lamps on chlorophyll in plant micropropagation. Two study cases are exposed, Anthurium (Anthurium andreanum) and moth orchids (Phalaenopsisis sp.), both species with economic importance as ornamental plants, where LEDs have a positive effect on in vitro development and chlorophyll content.

No abstract

No abstract

No abstract