Business in Plant Tissue Culture

Understanding the Process of Plant Tissue Culture

While plant tissue culture turns one single plant with the desired features into hundreds and thousands of plants within one year, the process is achieved in three stages by exposing plant tissue to a specific medium of nutrients, light and hormones maintained under sterile vitro conditions. Some of the distinguishing features of the plants evolved through this technique include disease or pathogen-free state, healthier and more fibrous root system, dense branching and more survival rate.

The three main stages in developing individual plants from plant tissues can be detailed as follows:

STAGE I or the initiation phase is concerned with the placing of plant tissue in vitro after sterilising the material and initiating the process of tissue culture.

STAGE II refers to the phase of multiplication in which the in vitro plant material undergoes re-division and is established in a medium containing plant growth regulators that are known to induce the proliferation of multiple shoots. The process accomplished in this stage is repeated a number of times until it results in the number of plants desired.

STAGE III is called the root formation phase. It refers to the process of introducing appropriate hormones to trigger rooting and to achieve the formation of complete plantlets.

One the plants are subjected to these three stages, the plants are shifted from the laboratory to the greenhouses for acclimatizing them and to enable further development.

Uses and Applications of Plant Tissue Culture

Today, plant tissue culture has a wide range of direct commercial applications besides holding immense value in the research arena of cell biology, biochemistry and genetics. Some of the most popular techniques in the field include culturing cells, embryos, anthers and ovules both in experimental and industrial scales. Some of the other notable processes in the field are isolating protoplast and fusion, cell selection and culturing of buds and meristem.

Some of the most important applications of plant tissue culture are micro-propagation with the help of meristem and shoot culture to develop huge numbers of individuals that are identical to each other and screening the programs of cells as against the conventional method of screening plants in search of advantageous characteristics. In addition, the process also finds its application in growing plant cells in liquid culture in a large scale to be used as sources for secondary products, using the method of protoplast fusion to cross species of plants that are distantly related, regenerating dihaploid plants from haploid cultures to secure homozygous lines quickly during breeding programs and removing viruses by propagating meristematic tissues.

Plant tissue culture today has undergone a phenomenal development. During the recent past, this technique has been fruitfully applied to the breeding and propagation of trees and shrubs. There are a number of firms that are applying this technology for commercial scale propagation of apples, rhododendrons, crabapples and a number of other woody species. This technology has been extensively used in the development of new varieties and commercial breeding of ornamental plants. Thus, tissue culture has established itself as one of the most potential tools for propagation. The most popular arenas which plant tissue culture has completely taken over today include micro-propagation and controlled management and treatment of plants in the cellular level.

Micro-propagation

‘Micro-propagation’ is the term that best conveys the essence of tissue culture technique widely found in application today. While the prefix “micro” talks of the small size of the tissue gathered for propagation, it also equally refers to the size of the plants that are evolved out of this process. The technique of micro-propagation enables the breeding of a huge number of plants from small pieces of source plants within an unbelievably short period of time. Depending on the species of plant considered for the process, the source tissue can be gathered from one of the plant parts including leaf, root tissue, lateral bud, stem or shoot tip. Most importantly, in most cases, the original plant is not destroyed while collecting the source sample which would hold considerable importance to the owner of the plant in case of rare species.

After placing the sample in tissue culture, the process brings out proliferation of either lateral buds and adventitious shoots or differentiating shoots right from the callus, resulting in a tremendous increase in the number of shoots available for rooting. In the second stage, microcuttings or plantlets that have got rooted by now will be established in the production environment and successfully developed in containers or fields. There are two important lessons learnt from the above said process. 1) This methodology is the most potential means of accelerating asexual propagation of plants. 2) Plants evolved through this technique are found to respond in the same manner like any vegetatively propagated plant that has rooted on its own.

In less than one year’s time micro-propagation technique can help in multiplying several thousands of plants from a single explant. While the collection of original tissue does not destroy the parent plant, the vigorously dividing cultures become the source of micro-cuttings that can bring about production of plants under green house conditions without any interruptions by changing seasons. The micro-propagation technique also helps in rapidly introducing select number of superior clones of ornamental plants in adequate quantities to sweep the landscape plant market.

20 thoughts on “Business in Plant Tissue Culture”

  1. Dear Sir,

    I have done Bsc Biotechnology and MBA in Marketinng and willing to start plant tissue culture firm.
    You have provided great information.I will apperciate if you can send some more information as to set up plant tissue culture business like from where I can raise funds? also if any references you have please help me.

  2. @Vrushali
    I am Dr Manisha Acharya,Manager KIIT-Technology Business Incubator (KIIT-TBI) KIIT University, Bhubaneswar,Orissa,India .
    We are the facilitators for incubating ideas and innovation having commercial potential in Biotech and ICT area.
    We can provide infrastructure requirements including seed funding for initial development of business.
    If you are interested to develop a Plant tissue culture firm at Bhubaneswar,Orissa you can contact to my email, my email id is drmanisha1971@gmail.com

    1. Madhusudan Agrawal

      Hello Ma’m
      I am Post Graduate in Biotechnology and want to start a plant tissue culture lab in Orissa, i dont have fund to start. Can you give me details, how can i raise funds. And is it necessary to start the lab in BBSR, cant i start it in my hometown of Bhawanipatna, Dist. Kalahandi.

      Regards
      Madhusudan Agrawal
      +91-8763536663
      ms.agrawalpes@gmail.com

  3. Dear All,

    We are plant tissue culture lab based in hyderabad. Certified by Dept of Biotechnology,India,produce 8 million Tc banana plants. We are looking for growers in UP,MP,Chattisgarh and West Bengal who would be interested in planting banana plants.Please mail us @ santosh@aceagrotech.com.

  4. Irfan urrahman

    I am a agriculture graduate want to start a small scale agri bussines,if anybody have suggestions please mail me.

  5. vivek chakravarti

    i had complete my bsc biotech. noe i doing msc. i want to information for business of plant tissue culture. plz give me information

  6. hello sir i m student of MSc in plant biotechnology and i want to start a small business in plant tissue culture, so please give me some ideas how to start the business

  7. ear sir,
    am a post graduate in biotech, with more than 4 yrs experience in bio fertilizers field, now working as entomologist in Dubai. i am in search for a potent business idea in biotech realm to start in India. how to start a PTC business, or any other idea you can give me? expecting a prompt reply,
    thanks and regards
    Sarath raj

    1. hi sir, i am into PTC since 6 yrs,if u are interested in this business contact me.
      expecting a reply soon,
      thanks and regards
      laxmi

  8. Madhusudan Agrawal

    Hello Sir,
    I have completed my MSc. in Biotech and looking to start a new business related to biotech, more eager to do it in plant tissue culture but want to know the prospects and scope of tissue culture in orissa. Please mail me on ms.agrawalpes@gmail.com

    Regards
    Madhusudan Agrawal
    8763536663

  9. Abhi28n@gmail.com

    I wish to start ptc buissnes. for this i required a project report & information about market potential of ptc.

  10. Hello sir, I had completed my bsc biotechnology and now I want to work in plant tissue culture area….. plz guide me. Is there any kind of opportunity in Bihar and Jharkhand.. plz do rply by mail .. Thank you

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