Cloning Plants

Question 1

Define vegetative propagation

Answer 1

asexual reproduction from the vegetative parts

of a plant rather than through specialised sexual reproductive structures

Question 2

Parts of a plant used in vegetative propagation …

Answer 2

1. Overwinter organs such as bulbs and tubers
2. Runners and rhizomes (roots and shoots)
3. Stem cutting, with rooting hormones encouraging root growth

Question 3

Define micropropagation …

Answer 3

the process of growing large numbers of cloned

plants from meristem tissue taken from a sample plant

Question 4

Explain how you would conduct micropropagation …

4 stages

Answer 4

1. samples from the meristem are acquired and sterilised
2. placed on a sterile culture medium, forming a callus
3. callus is divided and moved onto separate culture mediums to
   stimulate the development of roots and shoots
4. The plantlets developed are potted in soil

Question 5

Define a tissue culture

Answer 5

Tissue culture is the growth of tissues or cells in an artificial medium taken from tissues of a sample plant.