TISSUE CULTURE BHT306

Learn to Grow Plants using Tissue Culture -Studying at Home

COURSE STRUCTURE

There are nine lessons as follows:

1. Introduction including a review of basic plant nutrition.
   • Stages in tissue cultured plant development
   • Introduction to Plant Growth Science, biochemical processes and cell biology
   • Transpiration, Photosynthesis and Respiration
   • Plant Parts -Stems, Leaves, Roots, Buds,Flowers and fruits
   • What happens as Tissue Matures
   • Types of Plant Tissue
   • Methods of Shoot Induction and Proliferation
   • Advantitious Roots
   • Terminology
2. Plant Nutrients
   • Major Elements
   • Minor (Trace) Elements
   • Total Salts
   • How Plants Grow
   • Factors Affecting Nutrient Uptake
   • Nutrient Solution Preparation
   • Hydroponic Nutrients
   • Chelates
   • Growing Media for Tissue Culture
   • Water in Tissue Culture
   • Chemical Analysis
3. The Laboratory
   • The Tissue Culture Laboratory
   • Preparation Area
   • Transfer Chamber
   • Culture Growing Area
   • Siting a New Lab
   • Equipment Requirements for a Lab
   • Chemicals
4. Micropropagation Techniques
   • Stock Plants -selection, planting, management
   • Uses for Tissue Culture
   • Problems with Tissue Culture
   • Procedures
   • Explants
   • Sterilisation
   • Nutrient Media
   • Shoot Induction and Proliferation
   • Rooting and Planting Out
   • Stages in Plant Development
   • Treating Plant Tissue with Sterilants
5. Plant Hormones
   • Chemical Growth Modification
   • Principles of Using Plant Hormones
   • Auxins, Cytokinins, Gibberellins, Abscisic acid and Ethylene.
   • Other Chemical Treatments
6. The Tissue Culture Environment
   • Media Types -Filter Bridge, Agar, Liquid
   • Nutrient Media Composition
   • Cleanlines
   • Light and Temperature
   • Hormones
   • Artificial Light
   • Water Quality
   • Water Treatgments
   • Carbon Dioxide Effects
   • Greenhouses
   • Diagnosis of Plant Disorders
7. Commercial Applications
   • Understanding Genetics and Plant Breeding
   • Biotechnology
   • Cell Fusions
   • Overcoming Pollination Incompatibility
   • Pollination Biology
8. Taking Plants out of Culture
   • Hardening off Plants
   • Growing Rooms or Chambers
   • Rockwool Applications with Micropropagation
9. Culture of Selected Species
   • Begonia
   • Cattleya
   • Cymbidium
   • Review of a range of other plants

AIMS

• Explain the nature of plant growth processes, in the tissue culture environment.
• Determine growing media to use for tissue culture.
• Specify appropriate micropropagation procedures for different purposes.
• Explain the management of environmental control equipment used in tissue culture.
• Design a layout for a commercial tissue culture facility.
• Determine appropriate commercial applications for tissue culture.

WHAT THE COURSE COVERS

Here are just some of the things you may be doing:

• Describe botanical terms which may be relevant to tissue culture.
• Explain different physiological processes which are relevant to tissue culture, including:
  • Photosynthesis
  • Transpiration
  • Respiration.
• Differentiate between different types of plant tissue, including:
  • Collenchyma
  • Sclerenchyma
  • Parenchyma
  • Xylem
  • Phloem
  • Meristem.
• Describe the stages of plant growth during tissue culture of a specified plant.
• Explain the roles of the major and minor nutrients in tissue culture.
• Explain how five different specified plant hormones can be used in tissue culturing plants.
• Explain the functions of different types of components of media, including:
  • Nutrients
  • Carbohydrates
  • Vitamins
  • Growth regulators
  • Amino acids
  • Antibiotics.
• Differentiate between appropriate applications for both liquid and solid media.
• Compare two different specified formulae for tissue culturing, formulated for two different plant genera.
• Explain different terms relevant to micropropagation procedures, including:
  • abscission
  • aseptic
  • autoclave
  • axenic
  • bridge
  • in vitro
  • deionize
  • differentiate
  • flaming
  • hardening off
  • indexing
  • pipette
  • precipitate
  • transfer
  • vitrification.
• Describe different methods of shoot proliferation used in tissue culture.
• Explain a method of sterilisation for plant tissue in an operation observed by you.
• Distinguish between tissue culture operations which use different plant parts, including:
  • Meristem
  • Shoot tip
  • Organ
  • Cell.
• Describe the steps in producing a plant by tissue culture, observed by you in a commercial facility.
• Explain how to remove a specified plant from tissue culture, into open culture.
• Compile a resource file of different suppliers of environmental control equipment.
• Determine guidelines for establishing an appropriate, controlled environment, for growing a tissue culture.
• Describe two different greenhouse management methods for acclimatising tissue cultured plants.
• Explain how knowledge of short-day, long-day and day-neutral plants is relevant to tissue culture.
• Explain methods of ensuring water used in tissue culture is pure and sterile.
• Determine the equipment needed to set up a tissue culture laboratory.
• Describe the functions of the equipment listed.
• Develop on-going maintenance guidelines for a tissue culture facility which has the range of equipment listed.
• Determine consumable materials required for the day-to-day operation of a specified tissue culture facility.
• Determine the minimum skills needed to set up a tissue culture laboratory.
• Write a job specification for a tissue culture technician, which identifies skills needed in that job.
• Draw a floor plan to scale, for a workable tissue culture laboratory, designed for a specified purpose.
• Describe commercial micropropagation methods for different plant genera.
• Distinguish between the unique requirements for successful micropropagation of different genera.
• Analyse, from research, the use of tissue culture for plant breeding.
• Determine criteria for assessing the commercial viability of using tissue culture for propagating a given plant.
• Determine the number of plants of a specified plant variety which would need to be cultured, in order to make tissue culturing of that plant commercially viable.
• Assess the commercial viability of a specified tissue culture enterprise.

Quote from Principal, Horticulturist and garden author John Mason: 

"Since developing this course in the late 1980's, I've encountered graduates on many occasions who have gone on to start their own tissue culture facility, and others who have successfully found employment working in a larger tissue culture enterprise. The course continues regular reviews and updates, and today reflects the input of more than a dozen tissue culture experts, biotechnologists and horticulture professionals."