Uses of Plant Tissue Culture
Plant tissue culture now has direct commercial applications, as well as value in basic research into cell biology, genetics, and biochemistry. The techniques include culture of cells, anthers, ovules, and embryos on experimental to industrial scales, protoplast isolation and fusion, cell selection, and meristem and bud culture. Applications include:
- micropropagation using meristem and shoot culture to
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| Figure 2 Callus cultures derived from onions. |
- produce large numbers of identical individuals
- screening programs of cells, rather than plants for advantageous characters large-scale growth of plant cells in liquid culture as a source of secondary products
- crossing distantly related species by protoplast fusion and regeneration of the novel hybrid
- production of dihaploid plants from haploid cultures to achieve homozygous lines more rapidly in breeding programs
- as a tissue for transformation, followed by either short-term testing of genetic constructs or regeneration of transgenic plants removal of viruses by propagation from meristematic tissues.
