Tissue culture Flashcards
What is tissue culture?
A modern high tech process
How does it work?
A new plant is made from a few cells taken from a donor plant
Where does this process take place?
In labs because it allows scientists to produce large numbers of plants
What is involved in tissue culture?
- A small sample of cells (explant) is taken from a donor plant and is sterilised to remove bacteria
- Cells are placed in sterile agar with nutrients
- A callus grows. A small sample of the callus is placed in a fresh agar plate with hormones
- Callus grows into an embryo and then a small plantlet
Why are corrects cells selected for tissue culture necessary?
Only special cells (cannbium) have all the necessary genes switched on. These encourage the explant to grow in a complete plant
Why are forceps flamed before transferring explant necessary?
To avoid the cells becoming infected with a microbe
Why is agar containing growth medium necessary?
Nutrients are needed for the explant to grow
Why is tissue culture incubated in a warm temperature necessary?
To make sure the growth occurs at optimum rate
