Micropropagation of Ornamental Plants Using Bioreactor System

Abstract

Several types of bioreactors were incorporated to verify the effectiveness for mass culture of ornamental plants. Protocorm-like bodies (PLBs) were proliferated from flower stalk of Phalaenopsis by using bioreactors. Hyponex medium containing 1% potato and 0.1% activated charcoal supplied by ebb-and-flow method was investigated as the best for PLBs production (17 or more per PLB). The result partially suggested the possibility for mass propagation of PLBs through bioreactor system. Several cultivars of Lilium were successfully mass propagated using different types of bioreactors. In the case of ‘Marcopolo’, the growth of bulblets in balloon type bubble bioreactor (BTBB) was nearly 10 folds faster than that of the solid medium. When 120 single-nodal expiants (about 1 cm in length) were cultured for 8 weeks under 16hr light condition, more than 20,000 shoot cuttings of virus-free potatoes could be obtained in 20 L sized BTBB. The percentage of ex vitro rooting of the cuttings during weaning stage revealed as more than 95% under 50% shade. Similar results were obtained from the culture of single-nodal expiants using bioreactor in chrysanthemum and sweet potato. Based on our above results, we suggest that large-scale cultures of plant cell, tissue and organ using bioreactor system should be quite a feasible approach in terms of increase of multiplication rate and reduction of production cost when compared with conventional plant tissue culture method.