|
|
Article: Tissue Culture
- Article from:
- Plant Sciences
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2001 The Gale Group Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
Tissue Culture
For a variety of purposes, plant cells, tissues, organs, and whole plants can be grown in labware containing a medium composed of defined molecules. Tissue culture media provide water, minerals, vitamins, hormones, carbon sources, and antibiotics depending on the plant material being cultured. Since most living plant cells are
totipotent
, scientists can manipulate the medium to regenerate whole plants from even a single genetically engineered plant cell or from a cluster of cells from a rare plant. Hormones in the medium determine what plant parts form from the cells (callus) in the culture: Auxins stimulate root formation and cytokinins stimulate shoot formation. The ...