Environmental and Hormonal Effects in Micropropagation

Abstract

ABSTRACT. Micropropagation has become important in the latter quarter of the Twentieth Century, both in a commercial sense and as an exceedingly valuable research tool for the study of plant physiology, growth and development. A myriad of papers have been published on a wide variety of subjects related to micropropagation including the critically important areas of environment and hormones. In this paper, special attention is given to the influence of environment and hormones, and their interactions as they affect the stock plant and the subsequent performance of the explant when cultured in vitro. Explant selection (genotype, organ chosen, age and physiological stage, health), stock plant management (nutrition; light intensity, quality and photoperiod; temperature; chemical and physical manipulations), gaseous atmosphere (RH, CO2, O2, ethylene) and both conventioml and novel plant growth regulating chemicals are topics presented. These topics are discussed in relation to future challenges and opportunities, such as automation and robotization of micropropagation technology.

Cloning: Plants – Micropropagation/Tissue Culture

“…The overall characteristics of this stock plant are critical to the success of the micropropagation process (Read, 1990;Read, 1992). The overall characteristics of this stock plant are critical to the success of the micropropagation process (Read, 1990;Read, 1992).…”

“…Furthermore, when location on the stock plant is considered, for example, apical bud versus lateral bud, the best results vary with species: lateral buds were superior for deciduous azalea (Economou and Read, 1986), but apical explants responded better for Fagus sylvatica (Vanderschaege and Debergh, 1988). With a relatively easy to micropropagate species such as petunia, shoot-forming ability from leaf segment explants varied by as much as fivefold, depending on cultivar (Read, 1990). With a relatively easy to micropropagate species such as petunia, shoot-forming ability from leaf segment explants varied by as much as fivefold, depending on cultivar (Read, 1990).…”