Application of Tissue Culture in Crop improvement

Application of Tissue Culture in Crop

• Tissue culture have made possible to culture and generate a whole plant from plant cell. Some Major application of tissue culture in crop improvement are as follow -

Know about the Tissue Culture

Micropropagation

• The method of fast vegetative propagation of plants involving tissue culture and cell culture is called micropropagation.

• The plant That is produced by micropropagation, is genetically identical. Micropropagation is the method to raise large progeny of plants in a shorter period.

• There are three main methods by which progeny of  plants can be raised  through  tissue culture.

• First, the Apical meristem of plants can be cultured for the production of a large number of shoot buds.
• Second , any plant part is made to strike shoots and roots can be induced in these shoot buds before transfer to soil. 

• Third , A large number of somatic embryo are produced from plant's part .This is very similar to Zygotic embryo in seed. These seed can be covered by proper gel to produce artificial seed.

• The production of Artificial seed is revolutionary step in micropropagation Micropropagation is widely used in propagating Papaya,Bamboo, coconut potato and ornamental plants like orchid, begonias, Chrysanthemums.

Production of disease free plant 

• In vegetatively propagated plants, pathogens make entry through root, build, rhizome etc But only the meristematic cell of apical meristem is devoid of virus . 

• By realizing this fact , virus free plants can be produced by the culture of shoot apical meristem.

Read about the Meristmatic tissue

• For the production of virus free plant ,It is essential that explant must be taken with one or two leaf primordia.

• Presently, this technique is being used to raise virus free plants like strawberries, potatoes, Sugarcane ,Citrus. Etc.

Embryo rescue for successful hybridisation 

• In the plant breeding program ,all crosses are not successful and most of the embryos are damaged before maturity. Such embryos are rescued and grown in a more hospitable environment and a plant is grown from an immature embryo.

• This method is valuable for getting hybrid fruit such as Peach, Cherry, Plum etc.

• Embryo rescue became successful in growing embryos from hybrid between common beans and its wild varieties.

• This hybrid is not only disease resistant but has several desirable characteristics. Another hybrid of Tomato has also been cultivated with high content of vitamin C.

Somaclonal variation 

• The variation  that is produced by the tissue culture is called somaclonal variation.

• The primary application of increased variability from tissue culture is generation of new genotypes. Part of plant tissue through invite culture form a method for improving a single disease resistance character..

Protoplast technology and somatic hybridization   

• Somatic hybridization is fusion of the protoplast of two parents. By this technique ,Enzymatic isolation of protoplasts and their fusion of genetically different species is not possible. Somatic hybridization involve following step

Isolation of protoplast from suitable plants - 
1.Mixing of protoplast using fugigenic chemicals  

2. wall regeneration by heterokaryotic cell  
3. Fusion of nuclei to produce hybrid cell 

4. Selection  of hybrid and induction  of organ formation  

5.transfer of plant .