CELL AND TISSUE CULTURE TECHNOLOGY (PTT 305/3)

This volume, Plant Tissue Culture Engineering, signals a turning point: the recognition that this specialized field of plant science must be integrated with engineering principles in order to develop efficient, cost effective and large scale applications of these technologies. A diverse team of key researchers, technologists and engineers have joined to describe in a lucid manner how various engineering disciplines can contribute to the improvement of plant tissue culture techniques and transform it to a technology. The volume contains 5 parts:Machine vision systems for non-invasive and objective evaluation of culturesInnovative bioreactor technologies and its engineering basesMechanized and/or automated culture processesEngineering cultural environmentPhysical aspects of plant tissue culture engineering Readers of this volume will find a unique collection of chapters that will focus their attention on the interface of plant biotechnologies and engineering technologies.This volume will be of use to graduate students, teachers and research workers in the fields of horticulture, agricultural botany and plant biotechnology in general and also to individuals who with or without engineering background are interested in industrial plant tissue culture.

The first edition of Plant Propagation by Tissue Culture by Edwin F. George appeared in 1986. A second edition consisting of two volumes appeared in 1993 and 1996. For researchers and students, George s books have become the standard works on in vitro plant propagation. The volumes also contain a wealth of information for researchers and companies working in related areas; particularly plant breeding, genetic engineering, phytopathology, production of secondary metabolites and conservation. Scientific knowledge has expanded rapidly since the second edition and it would now be a daunting task for a single author to cover all aspects adequately. Therefore, in this third edition, topics are being covered by a number of specialists. However, this edition still maintains the integration that was characteristic of the previous editions. The first volume of the new edition highlights the scientific background of in vitro propagation. The second volume, which is in preparation, will cover the practice of micropropagation and describe its various applications.

This book provides a general introduction as well as a selected survey of key advances in the fascinating field of plant cell and tissue culture as a tool in biotechnology. After a detailed description of the various basic techniques employed in leading laboratories worldwide, follows an extended account of important applications in, for example, plant propagation, secondary metabolite production and gene technology. Additionally, some chapters are devoted to historical developments in this domain, metabolic aspects, nutrition, growth regulators, differentiation and the development of culture systems. The book will prove useful to both newcomers and specialists, and even "old hands" in tissue culture should find some challenging ideas to think about.

The ability to culture cells is fundamental for mass propagation and as a baseline for the genetic manipulation of plant nuclei and organelles. The introduction to Plant Cell Culture: Essential Methods provides a general background to plant cell culture, including basic principles, technologies and laboratory practices that underpin the more detailed techniques described in subsequent chapters. Whilst each chapter provides a background to the topic area and methodology, a crucial aspect is the provision of detailed protocols with emphasis on trouble shooting, describing common problems and detailed advice for their avoidance. Plant Cell Culture: Essential Methods provides the reader with a concise overview of these techniques, including micropropagation, mutagenesis, cryopreservation, genetic and plastid transformation and somatic cell technologies. This book will be an essential addition to any plant science laboratory′s bookshelf.