Sieve Elements in Plant Tissue Cultures: Development, Freeze-Fracture, and Isolation

Abstract

Plant tissue culture techniques are widely used to grow populations of higher plant cells in vitro. The cultures may be grown as a callus tissue on media hardened with agar or as suspension cultures in liquid media agitated on a shaker platform. Tissue culture techniques have become established as a means for rapidly propagating plants on a commercial scale, as a source of secondary plant products, and as an important link between the incorporation of new genetic information into plant cells and the regeneration of plants with altered characteristics. A major goal of plant tissue culture research is the regulation of development and differentiation in vitro. The incorporation of specific growth factors in the culture medium can be used to regulate the production of roots and shoots from cultures of many plant cells. Progress in this area is responsible for the commercial success of plant propagation through the use of tissue cultures.