Author
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Reed, Barbara |
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Submitted to: HortScience
Publication Type: Abstract Only Publication Acceptance Date: 2/10/2005 Publication Date: 2/10/2005 Citation: Reed, B.M. 2005. Tissue culture for germplasm conservation and distribution [abstract]. Hortscience. 40:981. Interpretive Summary: Tissue culture is an excellent tool for multiplying, maintaining, storing and distributing plants. Maintaining unique plants for breeding, propagation, or distribution can be expensive in terms of the time, space and labor required. Tissue-culture plants can be held at refrigerator temperatures for months or years with little maintenance. Temperate crops are easily manipulated to withstand storage and resume growth as needed. Less cold-tolerant plants can also be adapted for storage. Tissue culture storage can be used to maintain germplasm collections, hold plants until nearer the shipping or planting season, or preserve 'mother plants' for later propagation. In-vitro propagation of apical meristems is an important part of virus-elimination therapy for improving the health of plant collections. Distribution of tissue cultured germplasm often assists breeders and nurseries in meeting quarantine regulations. Technical Abstract: Tissue culture is an excellent tool for multiplying, maintaining, storing and distributing plant materials. Maintaining unique plant germplasm for breeding, propagation, or distribution is expensive in terms of the time, space, and labor required. In-vitro-stored plants can be held for months or years with little maintenance. Temperate crops are easily manipulated to withstand storage and resume growth as needed. Plants can be held at 4°C for many months without transfer. Less cold-tolerant plants can also be adapted for minimal maintenance storage at room temperature. In-vitro storage can be used to maintain germplasm collections, hold propagules until nearer the shipping or planting season, or preserve 'mother clones' for later propagation. In-vitro distribution of germplasm may aide breeders and nurseries in meeting international requirements and phytosanitary regulations. In-vitro propagation of apical meristems is an important part of virus-elimination therapy for improving the health of clonal germplasm collections. In vitro cultures are often more resilient to travel and customs delays than are cuttings or plants. |
