Plant Tissue Culture

Question 1

Describe the process of tissue culture

Answer 1

• cells are taken from the original plant
• cells from the stem and root tips are used because they’re are stem cells
• the cells are sterilised to kill microorganisms
• the cells are placed in a culture medium containing plant nutrients (like glucose) and growth hormones (like auxin)
• when the cells have divided and grown into a small plant, they are planted in the soil
• they will grow into plants that are genetically identical to the original plant

Question 2

Why is tissue culture used

Answer 2

-to clone plants that don’t readily reproduce or are endangered

Question 3

What is micropropagation

Answer 3

-it’s when tissue culture is used to produce lots of cloned plants very quickly

Question 4

Advantages of tissue culture

Answer 4

• desirable genetic characteristics
• allows plants to reproduce in any season
• less space is required
• produces lots of plants quickly

Question 5

Disadvantages of tissue culture

Answer 5

• undesirable genetic characteristics are passed on
• cloned plant population have no genetic variability
• production costs are high
• contamination by microorganisms is disastrous