Plant culture is one of the cornerstones of modern plant biotechnology.
It allows scientists to grow and multiply plant cells, tissues, or organs under controlled laboratory conditions.
Through this process, researchers can study development, produce clones, conserve rare species, and even create new plant varieties.
Unlike traditional propagation, plant culture is performed in vitro, in glass, on sterile nutrient media, inside a controlled environment free of microbes and contaminants.
This controlled micro-environment gives precise control over light, nutrients, temperature, and growth regulators.
What is Plant Culture ?
Plant culture refers to the aseptic cultivation of plant material (cells, tissues, organs, or protoplasts) on a defined nutrient medium. (Wikipedia)
The goal can be multiplication, regeneration, or studying physiological and molecular mechanisms.
The technique includes :
- Explant selection and sterilization
- Culture initiation on nutrient media
- Callus induction or organogenesis
- Regeneration and acclimatization
Each step depends on maintaining sterility, proper nutrition, and balanced plant growth regulators (mainly auxins and cytokinins).
The Science Behind the Process !
1. Explant Selection
- An explant is a small piece of tissue taken from a plant , such as a leaf, stem, root, node, or even seed embryo.
- The success of culture depends on choosing a healthy, actively growing tissue.
2. Sterilization
- All plant surfaces carry microorganisms.
- Before culture, the explant is sterilized using mild detergents, ethanol, and sodium hypochlorite or mercuric chloride.
- This step ensures no bacteria or fungi interfere with culture growth.
3. Nutrient Medium
- The most widely used formulation is the Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium, developed in 1962.
- It provides macronutrients (N, P, K, Ca, Mg, S), micronutrients (Fe, Mn, Zn, Cu, B, Mo), vitamins, and a carbon source such as sucrose.
- The medium is solidified with agar, which supports the plant tissues physically.
- Supreme-grade or tissue-culture-grade agar provides high clarity and consistency.
4. Growth Regulators
- The balance between auxins (e.g., IAA, NAA, 2,4-D) and cytokinins (e.g., BAP, kinetin, zeatin) determines the outcome:
- High auxin → root formation or callus induction
- High cytokinin → shoot formation
- Balanced ratio → cell division and organ differentiation
5. Culture Conditions
Typical incubation parameters :
- Temperature : 22 – 27 °C
- Light : 16 h photoperiod, ~3000 lux
- Humidity : 50–70 %
- Sterile air flow : maintained by laminar airflow cabinet
Types of Plant Culture :
🌱 1. Callus Culture
Callus is an unorganized mass of cells formed from the explant in response to auxins.
It serves as the starting point for organogenesis or somatic embryogenesis.
🌾 2. Organ Culture
Specific organs (shoots, roots, embryos) are cultured separately to study development or produce structures for regeneration.
🌸 3. Cell Suspension Culture
- Callus is transferred to liquid medium and shaken to produce a suspension of free plant cells.
- This is used in metabolite production, genetic transformation, or molecular studies.
🌿 4. Protoplast Culture
- Protoplasts are plant cells without cell walls.
- They are produced enzymatically and can regenerate into new plants.
- This technique enables hybridization and genetic engineering at the cellular level.
🌼 5. Micropropagation
- Micropropagation is the commercial application of plant culture.
- It produces thousands of genetically identical plantlets (clones) from a single mother plant.
- This method is widely used for orchids, banana, strawberry, potato, and ornamental crops.
Future of Plant Culture
Modern plant culture is integrating automation, sensors, and machine vision to increase precision.
Robotic pipetting and imaging systems help monitor growth and reduce human error.
Nanotechnology and bioinformatics are improving nutrient formulations and growth prediction.
The combination of classical plant tissue culture with molecular genetics and AI analysis is redefining crop improvement pipelines.