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Tissue Culture

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What is Tissue Culture?

Tissue Culture is a method under which fragments of plants and animal Tissues are cultivated and grown in a laboratory. The organs, many times, are used for Tissue Culture. Broth and agar are the media used for the growth of the Culture. This method is also known as micropropagation. a sterile workplace, a greenhouse, trained manpower, and a nursery are all it requires. It is beneficial for the production of disease-free plants and plants in developing countries. In developing countries, oil palm, banana, plantain, eggplant, pineapple, rubber tree, tomato, sweet potato have been produced by Tissue Culture. 


Following are the main categories of Cultures:-

  • Primary Culture:- These model the natural function of the Tissue and are generally mortal. They consist of natural Tissues excised from the living organisms by biopsy.

  • Culture of Established Cell Lines:- These are derived from tumor biopsies, or from the primary cells that had undergone mutation and continued to replicate.


Types of Tissue Culture.

Listed below are some types of Tissue Culture techniques:-

  • Seed Culture:- In seed Culture,  explants are obtained from an in-vitro derived plant and hence are introduced into a laboratory where they proliferate. To prevent the plants from Tissue damage it should be sterilized.

  • Embryo Culture:- Embryo Culture involves the in-vitro development of an embryo. For this process, an embryo is isolated from and living organism, both a mature and an immature embryo can be used. Mature embryos can be obtained from ripe seeds whereas immature embryos are obtained from the seeds that failed to germinate. The ovule, seed, or fruit has already been sterilized, hence there is no need to sterilize them.

  • Callus Culture:- A callus can be defined as an unorganized, dividing mass of cells. A callus is the explants are Cultured in a proper medium good. The growth of callus is followed by organ differentiation. This Culture is grown on a gel-like medium composed of agar and specific nutrients which are required for the growth of the cells.

  • Organ Culture:- In organ Culture, any organ of the plant such as a shoot, the leaf can be used as an explant. Many methods can be used for the organ Culture such as the plasma clot method, raft method, the grid method, and Agar gel method. This method can be used to preserve the structure and functions of an organism.

  • Protoplast Culture:- It can be defined as a cell without a cell wall. The hanging-drop method or micro-Culture chambers can be used to Culture a protoplast. A number of phases can be observed in protoplast Culture, development of cell walls, cell division, regeneration of a whole plant. 

  • Suspension Culture:- suspension Culture can be defined as a form of Culture in which single cells or small aggregates of cells mul­tiply while suspended in an agitated liquid medium. It can also be called cell Culture or cell suspension Culture.

  • Meristem Culture:- meristems have the main function of the production of new cells and the synthesis of protoplasm. Shoot meristem consists of a group of certain actively dividing cells that are being protected by the developing leaves.


Animal Cell Culture

Cell Culture is the process by which cells are grown in a controlled artificial environment. The cells are taken from the organ of an experimental Animal, for Animal cell Culture. The cells may be removed directly or by mechanical or enzymatic action. Fibroblasts, lymphocytes, cells from cardiac and skeletal tissues, cells from the liver, breast, skin, and kidney, and different types of tumor cells, are some examples of the cells used in the Culture.


Steps of Tissue Culture

Following are the steps of Tissue Culture:-

Initiation Phase:-

This is a stage when the Tissue is initiated into the Culture. To prevent the process from any contamination the Tissue of interest is obtained, introduced, and sterilized.


Multiplication Phase:-

In the multiplication stage, The sterilized ex-plant is introduced into the medium which consists of growth regulators and appropriate nutrients, they are responsible for the multiplication of cells. Hence this undifferentiated mass of cells is known as a callus.


Root Formation:-

This is the stage when the root starts forming. To initiate the formation of root plant growth hormones are added.  Consequently,  complete plantlets are obtained.


Shoot Formation:-

For the formation of the shoot, plant growth hormones are added and growth is observed for a week.


Acclimatization:-

When the plant starts to develop,  the plant is transferred to a greenhouse for it to develop under controlled environmental conditions. Thereafter it is finally transferred to the nurseries for its growth under natural environmental conditions.


Tissue Culture

Tissue Culture is the process of growing Tissues or cells outside of the parent organism in an artificial medium. Micropropagation is another name for this technology. A liquid, semi-solid, or solid growth medium, such as broth or agar, is generally used to aid this. Tissue Culture is a general phrase for the cultivation of animal cells and tissues, whereas plant Tissue Culture is a more specific term for the cultivation of plants. American pathologist Montrose Thomas Burrows invented the term "Tissue Culture. Plant Tissue Culture is based on the ability of plant Tissue to produce an entire new plant when given the right growth media and conditions. The ability of plant cells or Tissues to be totipotent is referred to as "totipotency."


Process of Tissue Culture for Producing New Plants 

  • A little piece of plant Tissue is extracted from the plant's growth point or tip and deposited on a sterile jelly containing nutrients and plant hormones. Hormones cause the cells in plant Tissue to divide rapidly, producing a large number of cells that create a shapeless lump of material known as a 'callus.'

  • The callus is then placed in another jelly that contains plant hormones that encourage the callus to grow roots.

  • The callus with roots is then placed on a jelly containing several hormones that stimulate the growth of new shoots.

  • The callus, which has roots and shoots, divides into small plantlets. From a few initial plant cells or Tissue, many miniature plantlets are created in this method.

  • The plantlets are then transplanted into pots or into the ground, where they can grow into adult plants.


Advantages of Tissue Culture

  • On a large-scale bioreactor, the biochemical engineer can grow plant cells in liquid culture.

  • The time it takes to establish consistent homozygous lines and varieties is reduced when dihaploid plants are grown from haploid Cultures.

  • The ability to transfer and express new diversity in household crops is increased by crossing distantly related species using protoplast isolation and somatic fusion.

  • Cell selection improves the number of people who can be screened in a given program.

  • Micropropagation techniques such as meristem and shoot Culture allow for the development of a high number of homogeneous individuals from a small amount of starting material.

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FAQs on Tissue Culture

1. How natural plants are produced in industries?

Natural substances produced by plants are employed as agricultural chemicals, medicines, and food additives. At the industrial level, cell culture is being employed as an efficient technology for producing high-value natural plant products. The Pfizer Company made significant efforts in the 1950s and 1960s to develop plant cells in liquid medium (suspension culture), similar to microbe culture, for the manufacture of natural plant products as an alternative to whole plants. For large-scale culture of plant cells, various types of bioreactors have been developed.

2. Explain modern usage of tissue culture?

In current usage, "tissue culture" refers to the in vitro development of cells from a multicellular organism's tissue. These cells could be primary cells from a donor organism or an immortalized cell line. The cells are submerged in a culture media that provides all of the nutrients and energy sources that the cells require to survive.As a result, "tissue culture" and "cell culture" are frequently used interchangeably in a broader sense. The exact definition of "tissue culture," on the other hand, relates to the cultivation of tissue fragments, also known as explant culture.

3. What is the use of Tissue Culture?

The tissue culture technique is being used increasingly for the production of ornamental plants like orchids, dahlia, carnation, chrysanthemum, etc. The production of plants by the method of tissue culture is also known as micropropagation because a small amount of plant material is used. This method is useful for impoverished countries trying to enhance agricultural productivity, private at-home growers looking for consistent quality, and enterprises looking to make exact clones of a species for profit.

4. Write a short note on tissue culture?

Tissue culture or culture solution is the process of producing new plants from a small piece of plant tissue or cells cut from a plant's growing tips and placed in a suitable growth medium. The growth medium or culture solution is critical in this procedure since it is used to produce plant tissue and contains various plant nutrients in the form of 'jelly' known as agar and plant hormones that are required for plant growth. The production of plants by the method of tissue culture is also known as micropropagation because a small amount of plant material is used.

5. Describe steps of plant tissue culture?

Plant tissue culture is based on the ability of plant tissue to produce an entirely new plant when given the right growth media and conditions. The ability of plant cells or tissues to be totipotent is referred to as "totipotency."


The four basic processes in plant tissue culture are as follows:

  • Choose a plant that is in good health as a parent (explant).

  • Remove any microbiological contamination from any explant surfaces that have been exposed.

  • Place the explant in a suitable culture medium.

  • The explant is incubated in a controlled environment with the right temperature, humidity, air quality, and lighting.

6. Explain the Importance of Tissue Culture.

Tissue culture is one of the most important cultures in biology, because of its wide range of applications:-

  • Animal and plant tissue, both can be used for culturing. Animal tissue culture, for example, helps to preserve a tissue or an organ whereas plant tissue culture can be used for genetic modification of a plant or in a simpler form, to increase its yield.

  • To produce plants with desired characteristics, its cells can be genetically altered

  • Clones, it is the exact copy of the plant that it produces with its ability to rejuvenate the tissue rapidly.

  • Tissue culture helps in the production of endangered species and hence conserves plant biodiversity.

  • It can be used as an efficient technique of quickly producing plants without any tubers, bulbs, or seeds.

7. What is an Explant? Mention the Various Types of Explants Used in Plant Tissue Culture?

An explant can be defined as that part of the plant which holds the potential and is effectively capable of giving rise to a whole new plant. Explants can be of various types used in the process of regeneration such as apical meristems, roots, cotyledons, nodal segments, leaf discs, pedicle, petiole, anther, ovary, embryo, etc. A mother plant can be defined as the source of explants that is to be used for further multiplication. The mother plant should be completely devoid of any bacterial/fungal infection before any multiplication happens. To create a clone, the grower cuts a branch from the mother plant and places it in a substrate, where it develops roots of its own, which can be used repeatedly.