Micropropagation

Question 1

What is tissue culture?

Answer 1

The method of growing plant cells, in isolation from the parent plant under sterile conditions in or on an nutrient culture medium of know composition

Question 2

What is micropropagation?

Answer 2

The process of making large numbers of genetically identical offspring from a single parent plant using tissue culture techniques

Question 3

What is an explant?

Answer 3

The material removed from a parent plant for tissue culture

Question 4

What is a callus?

Answer 4

A mass of undifferentiated plant cells that have been grown from an explant

Question 5

What are the stages of micropropagation by tissue culture?

Answer 5

1. Remove an explant with meristem tissue.
2. Sterilise surface with bleach
3. Transfer explant to sterile culture medium with hormones to promote mitosis and shoot grown.
4. Callus forms which can be split and cultured to produce platelets or into single cells and cultured in liquids

Question 6

What are plants commonly propagated by micropropagation?

Answer 6

Bananas, potatoes and strawberries

Question 7

What are advantages of micropropagation?

Answer 7

It’s a way of growing naturally infertile plants, produces very large number of new plants, increase numbers of rare plants, can produce know good quality crops, disease free plants and any plant produced in any season

Question 8

What are disadvantages of micropropagation?

Answer 8

Conditions must be sterile, expensive as skilled workers, all clones infected if one is,large numbers of plants can be lost, all plants are susceptible to same disease and is labour intensive