Fundamentals of Plant Tissue Culture

The book on "Fundamentals of Plant Tissue Culture" is intended to serve as a text book and reference material for undergraduate and post-graduate courses in Plant Tissue Culture. Besides, it can also serve as a guide and a reference material in Agricultural Research Institutes, which undertake research activities on plant tissue culture. The book is organized to contain 19 Chapters. The 1st Chapter, which is an Introduction, gives a brief history of plant tissue culture and explains definitions and terminologies on the subject matter. Chapters 2-4 outline the laboratory requirements for tissue culture, including the preparation of media and the plant hormones and growth regulators used in tissue culture techniques. Chapter 5 exclusively details the Aseptic Techniques employed in plant tissue culture. Chapters 6-8 explain the techniques of producing clean plant materials using Micropropagation and details the techniques of Inoculation, Subculturing and Acclimatization. Chapters 9-12 are dedicated to Protoplast Culture and haploid plant production using Somatic Hybridization and Somaclonal Variation. Chapter 13 deals with Cell Culture including Callus Culture, Cell Suspension Culture and Synchronization of such cultures. Chapter 14 explains the techniques of Somatic Embryogenesis and its applications in 'Synthetic or Artificial Seed' production and rescuing embryos. Chapter 15 is one of the major chapters that deals with Genetic Engineering, the technique of manipulating the genetic make-up of plants to produce the desired results. Thus, it details Plant Transformation Techniques, including Recombinant DNA Technology, Molecular Farming, Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs), Genetic Pollution, Genetic Erosion, Terminator Technology, etc. Chapter 16 deals with regulations on how Biotechnology in general and Plant Tissue Culture, in particular could be handled using Biosafety Mechanisms. Chapter 17 details the Genetic Transformation of plants, including the production of Biological Pest control mechanisms, insect and disease resistant as well as drought resistant crops, herbicide tolerant plants and the production of Biofertilizers. Chapter 18 deals with Intellectual Property Right - the protection of intellectual rights on plant tissue culture mechanisms. Finally, Chapter 19 tries to detail the application of tissue culture in the process of producing disease-free, clean plant materials, micropropagation, crop improvement and the production of Secondary Metabolites.