Difference Between Micropropagation And Tissue Culture: Definition, Introduction
Micropropagation and tissue culture are advanced methods used to propagate new plants in the laboratory. These two methods help in the generation of a high number of plants within a short duration. The primary is that micropropagation involves culturing plants from extremely small parts, such as a piece of a leaf or a bud, whereas tissue culture is a general term focusing the culturing of plants from any plant tissue under in vitro conditions. Micropropagation is used extensively to create healthy, disease-free plants, and research has also established that micropropagation has the potential to increase farmers' yield by as much as 30% in plants such as sugarcane and banana.
This Story also Contains
- What Is Micropropagation?
- Characteristics Of Micropropagation
- What Is Tissue Culture?
- Properties Of Tissue Culture
- Key Differences Between Micropropagation And Tissue Culture
- Examples Of Application of Micropropagation and Tissue Culture
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Tissue culture, on the other hand, can not just be applied for propagating plants but also for scientific purposes and for conserving rare or threatened plant species. Actually, researchers have been able to preserve more than 300 endangered plant species globally through tissue culture. Both processes are carried out in clean laboratory conditions where light, temperature, and nutrients are strictly controlled. These methods are quite handy in contemporary agriculture since they enable one to obtain more plants faster, even when nature takes its time.
What Is Micropropagation?
Micropropagation is a modern way of growing a large number of plants using tiny parts of a healthy parent plant. It is done in special lab conditions where the plant pieces are placed on a nutrient-rich medium that helps them grow. This method is very useful for producing plants that are free from diseases and have the same good qualities as the parent plant. Farmers and gardeners often prefer micropropagation because it gives strong, healthy plants in a shorter time compared to seeds or cuttings.
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Characteristics Of Micropropagation
Micropropagation is a method of growing many plants from a small part of a plant, like a piece of leaf, stem, or root, in a lab using a special nutrient medium. It is a quick and clean way to produce lots of healthy plants that are just like the parent plant. This method is mostly used for plants that are hard to grow from seeds or cuttings. Some of the major points are discussed below:
Rapid multiplication: This method raises large quantities of plants in a short time from a single explant.
Gene Uniformity: Progeny obtained through micropropagation are all genetically identical to the mother plant
Free of Disease: Micropropagation produces disease-free plants by cleaning off the pathogens present in the mother plant.
Production Throughout the Year: Plants can be produced throughout the year, independent of season or time.
Space-Efficient: When compared to the conventional methods, the space required for micropropagation is comparatively much less.
What Is Tissue Culture?
The term is general and embodies different techniques for cultivating plant cells, tissues, or organs on an artificial medium in aseptic conditions. Tissue culture can be applied to such fields as micropropagation, plant breeding, and secondary metabolite production. Several tissue culture techniques are applied to areas such as micropropagation, plant breeding, and production of secondary metabolites.
Properties Of Tissue Culture
Tissue Culture: Generally, the growth of plant cells, tissues, or organs occurs on an artificial nutrient medium.
Sterile Conditions: Every work is done in completely aseptic conditions so that infection can be avoided.
Manipulation of Growth: Nutrient medium and environmental conditions may manipulate the growth and development of plant parts.
Wide Spectrum of Applications: Applications of tissue culture are found in the realms of plant propagation, breeding, conservation, and production of secondary metabolites.
Need for Specialised Equipment: Specialised equipment like laminar flow cabinets, growth chambers, and autoclaves are necessary for tissue culture.
Key Differences Between Micropropagation And Tissue Culture
Micropropagation and tissue culture are both techniques used to grow new plants in the lab, but they are not exactly the same. While tissue culture is a broad method that includes growing plant cells, tissues, or organs on a nutrient medium, micropropagation is a type of tissue culture mainly used for producing a large number of plants that are exactly like the parent plant. Both are helpful in making disease-free and healthy plants, but their purpose and process have some clear differences. Although micropropagation is a subset of the latter, tissue culture has a few differences distinguished from each other:
Characteristic | Micropropagation | Tissue Culture |
Definition | Rapid multiplication of plants from small plant parts through tissue culture techniques | Cultivation of plant cells, tissues or organs on artificial nutrient media under sterile conditions |
Purpose | Rapid multiplication of plants | Broader applications like plant breeding, conservation, secondary metabolite production |
Methods Used | Shoot tip and nodal segment techniques | Leaves, roots, embryos etc. can be used as explants |
Scale | Large scale multiplication | Small scale experiments |
Commercialization | More commonly used for commercial plant production | More research and development-oriented |
Specialized Equipment | Requires more specialized equipment to handle large numbers of plants | Requires basic tissue culture equipment like laminar flow, growth chambers etc. |
Examples | Ornamental plants, fruit trees, medicinal plants | Plant breeding, secondary metabolite production, germplasm conservation |
Examples Of Application of Micropropagation and Tissue Culture
The examples are given below:
| Example | Description |
|---|---|
| Ornamental Plants (Micropropagation) | Used for rapid multiplication in plants like orchids and African violets. |
| Fruit Trees (Micropropagation) | Helps produce disease-free, true-to-type plants such as apples and bananas. |
| Medicinal Plants (Micropropagation) | Used to propagate rare or endangered medicinal plants for conservation or commerce. |
| Plant Breeding (Tissue Culture) | Tissue culture methods like embryo rescue are used for creating new plant varieties. |
| Secondary Metabolite Production (Tissue Culture) | Plant cell cultures help produce valuable compounds like medicines and flavour agents. |
| Germplasm Conservation (Tissue Culture) | Enables long-term storage of plant genetic resources for preservation. |
Apart from the many other potent tools in plant biotechnology, micropropagation and tissue culture allow one to effectively propagate and manipulate plants. While micropropagation deals with the rapid multiplication of plants, the term "tissue culture" is rather all-embracing, encompassing several techniques and a whole range of applications. The differences between the two methods have to be understood so that the appropriate method may be adopted for specific plant propagation and research requirements.
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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
These include rapid multiplication, genetic uniformity, production of disease-free plants, year-round production, and space efficiency.
Application in plant breeding, secondary metabolite production, and germplasm preservation.
Both require special apparatus such as a laminar flow bench, growth chamber, and autoclaves. As far as micropropagation is concerned, more equipment may be needed to process and transplant large numbers of plants.
The former is a specific technique of the latter, oriented toward the rapid multiplication of plants, whereas tissue culture has other broader uses.