History of Plant Tissue Culture

Abstract

Plant tissue culture, or the aseptic culture of cells, tissues, organs, and their components under defined physical and chemical conditions in vitro, is an important tool in both basic and applied studies as well as in commercial application. It owes its origin to the ideas of the German scientist, Haberlandt, at the beginning of the twentieth century. The early studies led to root cultures, embryo cultures, and the first true callus/tissue cultures. The period between the 1940s and the 1960s was marked by the development of new techniques and the improvement of those that were already in use. It was the availability of these techniques that led to the application of tissue culture to five broad areas, namely, cell behavior (including cytology, nutrition, metabolism, morphogenesis, embryogenesis, and pathology), plant modification and improvement, pathogen-free plants and germplasm storage, clonal propagation, and product (mainly secondary metabolite) formation, starting in the mid-1960s. The 1990s saw continued expansion in the application of the in vitro technologies to an increasing number of plant species. Cell cultures have remained an important tool in the study of basic areas of plant biology and biochemistry and have assumed major significance in studies in molecular biology and agricultural biotechnology in the twenty-first century. The historical development of these in vitro technologies and their applications is the focus of this chapter.

RAPD Fingerprint to Appraise the Genetic Fidelity of In Vitro Propagated Araucaria excelsa R. Br. var. glauca Plantlets

“…Plantlet regeneration in conifers occurs by somatic embryogenesis and organogenesis, with the former being the preferred route [30]. More recently Bonga et al [31] have shown that, despite major advances in clonal propagation of woody species, somatic embryogenesis or organogenesis is still difficult [32] for many conifers; however, there are gaps in our knowledge in some areas which allow for a degree of skepticism. The paucity of knowledge controlling somatic embryogenesis, the synchrony of somatic embryo development and low frequency true to type embryonic efficiency are responsible for its reduced commercial application in forest trees [2].…”

WIND1-based acquisition of regeneration competency in Arabidopsis and rapeseed

“…Our data also show that sequential activation of WIND1 and an embryonic regulator LEAFY COTYLEDON2 enhances generation of embryonic callus, suggesting that combining WIND1 with other transcription factors promote efficient and organ-specific regeneration. Our findings in the model applied science (Thorpe 2012) but the molecular mechanisms of how plant cells modify developmental plasticity in response to various environmental stimuli, especially wounding and hormonal treatment, is just beginning to be understood.…”

High throughput in vitro micropropagation of sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum L.) from spindle leaf roll segments: Cost analysis for agri-business industry

“…The major shortcoming of vegetative propagation is limited rate of seed multiplication leading to slow spread of new improved cultivars to growers. Micropropagation has emerged as one of the important global agro-technologies routinely used for rapid generation of high quality, uniform and disease-free planting material (Thorpe 2007). The potential of this technology has not been fully exploited as agri-business industry in developing countries due to high capital cost and difficulties encountered in selling high-priced tissue culture products.…”