Tissue Culture

Lesson Structure: Tissue Culture BHT306

There are 9 lessons:

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
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
The Laboratory
The Tissue Culture Laboratory
Preparation Area
Transfer Chamber
Culture Growing Area
Siting a New Lab
Equipment Requirements for a Lab
Chemicals
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
Plant Hormones
Chemical Growth Modification
Principles of Using Plant Hormones
Auxins, Cytokinins, Gibberellins, Abscisic acid and Ethylene.
Other Chemical Treatments
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
Commercial Applications
Understanding Genetics and Plant Breeding
Biotechnology
Cell Fusions
Overcoming Pollination Incompatibility
Pollination Biology
Taking Plants out of Culture
Hardening off Plants
Growing Rooms or Chambers
Rockwool Applications with Micropropagation
Culture of Selected Species
Begonia
Cattleya
Cymbidium
Review of a range of other plants
This course is taught by:

Katie Freeth
BSc. (Hons) Horticulture, (University of Bath); RHS General Examination; FI Hort; MIfpra.

An experienced and professional horticulturist with extensive management skills gained internationally; experienced in landscape management, staff supervision and management, written and oral communication, horticultural knowledge and application, supported by organisational and administrative skills and attention to detail.

Katie brings 20 years experience in Horticulture and is an accomplished lecturer, horticulture consultant and freelance writer. Katie is a judge for the International Awards for Liveable Communities in the Whole City Category.
Katie also worked for the Commonwealth War Graves Commission in France for approx 5 years first as a Sector Manager and then as an Area Manager; management of the cemeteries, peripatetic teams of gardeners (UK & French nationality) for the constructed cemeteries and memorials and static French nationality gardeners for small town/village plots.

Susan Stephenson
BSc in Applied Plant Biology (Botany) Univ. London 1983.
City and guilds: Garden Centre Management, Management and Interior Decor (1984)
Management qualifications in training with retail store. Diploma in Hort level 2 (RHS General) Distinction.

Susan Stephenson is a passionate and experienced horticulturist and garden designer. She has authored three books, lectures at 2 Further and Higher Education Colleges, teaching people of all ages and backgrounds about the wonders of plants and garden design, and tutors many students by correspondence from all over the world.

Susan studied botany at Royal Holloway College (Univ of London) and worked in the trading industry before returning to her first love plants and garden design. She is therefore, well placed to combine business knowledge with horticulture and design skills. Her experience is wide and varied and she has designed gardens for families and individuals. Susan is a mentor for garden designers who are just starting out, offering her support and advice and she also writes, delivers and assesses courses for colleges, introducing and encouraging people into horticulture and garden design.

Susan is a Professional Associate and exam moderator and holds the RHS General with Distinction. She continues to actively learn about horticulture and plants and (as her students will tell you) remains passionate and interested in design and horticulture.

She also supervised the Area Arboriculture Team and was Exhumations Officer€“ in charge of collecting discovered remains and arranging identification (if poss) and interment of same.

Learning Goals: Tissue Culture BHT306

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.
Practicals:

You will learn a wide variety of things, through a combination of reading, interacting with tutors, undertaking research and practical tasks, and watching videos. Here are just some of the things you will 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 fifteen 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 twenty 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 three different plant genera.
Distinguish between the unique requirements for successful micropropagation of six different specified 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.