Micropropagation of Woody Plants Using Bioreactor

Abstract

The use of plant tissue culture techniques has revolutionized the plant propagation and now plants are commercially micropropagated. In recent years, many micropropagation companies world over have emerged. However, few companies are generating good profits. As a result micropropagation industry has not grown appreciably. High skilled labour cost in developed countries is the limiting factor for the development of this industry. Commercial laboratories so far, have been using the procedures developed at the research level in which skilled operators manipulate explants and sub-culture of shoots in laminer hood. The methods limit the total number of propagules a person can handle. This restricts its application to plants in which a high unit cost of production can be economically justified (Christie et al., 1995; Cervelli and Senaratna, 1995). In addition, current method of tissue culture is difficult to automate. Many significant biological and cultural problems must be solved before the technique can be amenable to automation.