Tissue Culture

Learn the Science Underlying Tissue Culture Propagation 

• Study the plant growth processes in tissue culture environment
• Understand the application of plant hormones in tissue culture
• Find out appropriate types of commercial applications for tissue culture.

Student Comment:

"This is the first correspondence course I have done and I have thoroughly enjoyed it and I just wanted to say a big THANK YOU. I appreciate everyone's effort in such a professionally-run organisation with seamless administration. The office staff's happy can-do attitude, their fast responses to all queries, tutor Shane Gould's quick turnaround in assignment marking and his supportive and motivational feedback and last but not least, the sound subject guides. Most importantly I hope my thanks and appreciation can be communicated to all the staff who have supported me long the way of my learning! I work full time and study on the weekend but really don't stop thinking about what gardening solution I need in order to answer my assignments every day of the week. Thank you for such a great learning experience and I cant wait to start the second half of my course!!"
- Skye

Lesson Structure

There are 9 lessons in this course:

1. Introduction including a review of basic plant nutrition.
2. Plant Nutrients.
3. The Laboratory
4. Micropropagation Techniques
5. Plant Hormones
6. The Tissue Culture Environment
7. Commercial Applications
8. Taking Plants out of Culture
9. Culture of Selected Species

Aims

• Explain the nature of plant growth processes, in the tissue culture environment.
• Determine growing media to use for tissue culture.
• Specify appropriate micropropagation procedures for different purposes.
• Explain the management of environmental control equipment used in tissue culture.
• Design a layout for a commercial tissue culture facility.
• Determine appropriate commercial applications for tissue culture.

What You Will Do

• Describe botanical terms which may be relevant to tissue culture.
• Explain different physiological processes which are relevant to tissue culture, including:
  • Photosynthesis
  • Transpiration
  • Respiration.
• Differentiate between different types of plant tissue, including:
  • Collenchyma
  • Sclerenchyma
  • Parenchyma
  • Xylem
  • Phloem
  • Meristem.
• Describe the stages of plant growth during tissue culture of a specified plant.
• Explain the roles of the major and minor nutrients in tissue culture.
• Explain how five different specified plant hormones can be used in tissue culturing plants.
• Explain the functions of different types of components of media, including:
  • Nutrients
  • Carbohydrates
  • Vitamins
  • Growth regulators
  • Amino acids
  • Antibiotics.
• Differentiate between appropriate applications for both liquid and solid media.
• Compare two different specified formulae for tissue culturing, formulated for two different plant genera.
• Explain fifteen different terms relevant to micropropagation procedures, including:
  • abscission
  • aseptic
  • autoclave
  • axenic
  • bridge
  • in vitro
  • deionize
  • differentiate
  • flaming
  • hardening off
  • indexing
  • pipette
  • precipitate
  • transfer
  • vitrification.
• Describe different methods of shoot proliferation used in tissue culture.
• Explain a method of sterilisation for plant tissue in an operation observed by you.
• Distinguish between tissue culture operations which use different plant parts, including:
  • Meristem
  • Shoot tip
  • Organ
  • Cell.
• Describe the steps in producing a plant by tissue culture, observed by you in a commercial facility.
• Explain how to remove a specified plant from tissue culture, into open culture.
• Compile a resource file of twenty different suppliers of environmental control equipment.
• Determine guidelines for establishing an appropriate, controlled environment, for growing a tissue culture.
• Describe two different greenhouse management methods for acclimatising tissue cultured plants.
• Explain how knowledge of short-day, long-day and day-neutral plants is relevant to tissue culture.
• Explain methods of ensuring water used in tissue culture is pure and sterile.
• Determine the equipment needed to set up a tissue culture laboratory.
• Describe the functions of the equipment listed.
• Develop on-going maintenance guidelines for a tissue culture facility which has the range of equipment listed.
• Determine consumable materials required for the day-to-day operation of a specified tissue culture facility.
• Determine the minimum skills needed to set up a tissue culture laboratory.
• Write a job specification for a tissue culture technician, which identifies skills needed in that job.
• Draw a floor plan to scale, for a workable tissue culture laboratory, designed for a specified purpose.
• Describe commercial micropropagation methods for three different plant genera.
• Distinguish between the unique requirements for successful micropropagation of six different specified genera.
• Analyse, from research, the use of tissue culture for plant breeding.
• Determine criteria for assessing the commercial viability of using tissue culture for propagating a given plant.
• Determine the number of plants of a specified plant variety which would need to be cultured, in order to make tissue culturing of that plant commercially viable.
• Assess the commercial viability of a specified tissue culture enterprise.

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What Investment or Facilities are Needed for Tissue Culture?

When someone starts a plant tissue culture business; they do not need as much of an financial investment as with most other types of plant nurseries; largely because they do not need as much space (land). There are nevertheless, certain things that you do need to have; somewhere sterile to propagate the plants, and a very clean environment in which to grow them on.

Commercially viable tissue culture businesses have been started in a space as small as a spare (converted) bedroom or a small backyard greenhouse.

Tissue Culture laboratories have operated successfully, employing a couple of full time staff in a business that uses as little as 500 square metres (dependant upon what is grown, how it is grown and at what stage it is marketed).

Once you have done this course, and better understand the process of tissue culture, you will be in a far better position to decide how to set up, what to grow, and how to grow plants with tissue culture techniques. You do not need to set up these facilities in order to complete this course.