Cloning plants & tissue culture

• Process of cloning plants?

  • Find a desirable plants that you want to clone
  • Cut off a small part
  • Place the cutting in some oil, along with some nutrients and maybe some hormones
  • The cutting will grow into a clone of the original plant
• Process of micropropagation?


  • Find a plant with desirable characteristics that you want to clone.
  • Take very small pieces of plant tissue (called explants) from the tips of stems.
  • Sterilise the explants to remove any microorganisms.
  • Place the explants in a nutrient medium (agar) and let them grow into small masses of cells called calluses. The nutrient medium should also contain growth hormones. 
  • Transfer the calluses to soil where they can grow into plantlets (basically baby plants).
  • The plantlets can then be transferred to their own pots to develop into genetically identical adult plants
• What is an explant?


  A small piece of plant that can develop into a clone
• Give two benefits of cloning via cuttings rather than micropropagation?

  • Quicker
  • Cheaper
  • Requires less technical expertise/equipment
  • Don't have to worry about sterilisation
• Suggest how the tissue samples are removed and transferred to the agar medium?

  • (cut the plant with a) scalpel / razor / scissors / knife etc
  • (transfer with) tweezers / forceps etc
  • use aseptic techniques / sterilise equipment etc