Somatic embryogenesis — the gate to biotechnology in conifers

Abstract

I believe [...] one could successfully cultivate artificial embryos from vegetative cells.” With this vision, Gottlieb Haberlandt closed his 1902 publication “Experiments on the culture of isolated cells”. Based on his experiments with cell cultures, his foresight must have sounded bold at the time. Indeed, it took more than 50 years for his vision to be realised. The induction of embryos from vegetative cells, now called somatic embryogenesis, was first demonstrated in the 1950s with two species of the Apiaceae family, Oenanthe aquatica (Waris 1957) and Daucus carota (Reinert 1958, Steward et al. 1958). Yet despite intensive research efforts, it was only in 1985 that somatic embryogenesis was clearly demonstrated for the first time in gymnosperms (Chalupa 1985, Hakman and v. Arnold 1985, Nagmani and Bonga 1985). Somatic embryo-like structures in suspension cultures had been described earlier (Durzan 1982), however, the accuracy of such observations remains questionable. Equally dubious are claims of successfully producing somatic embryos in gymnosperm forest trees, which have even led to patent applications for the technique (Abo El-Nil 1980). Despite these claims, it was only in light of the work published in 1985 that rapid development in basic and applied research in the field of conifer somatic embryogenesis began. The immense potential for clonal propagation, genetic engineering and germplasm preservation soon followed, and within only a few years, all other regeneration and propagation routines in biotechnology were marginalized by somatic embryogenesis. A story of success was launched. Plant Tissue Culture Plant Tissue Culture Look Inside Other actions Reprints and Permissions Export citation About this Book Add to Papers Share Share this content on Facebook Share this content on Twitter Share this content on LinkedIn