plant

• micropropagation: growing plantlets in tissue culture and then planting them out.
• 1. a tissue sample is scraped from a parent plant - explants
• 2. explants are sterilised to kill bacteria and fungi
• 3. tissue samples placed in agar growth medium with nutrients and auxins (eg. glucose for respiration and amino acids for growth)
• 4. samples develop into plantlets = genetically identical to parents
• benefits of micropropagation:

  • new plants will have characteristics of parent plants
  • can use on genetically modified plants
  • shorter time to grow
• negatives of micropropagation:

  • all have same negative traits
  • disease susceptibility