1. Introduction. 2. Laboratory Organization and Equipment. 3. Media Preparation. 4. Collection, Sterilization, Excision and Culture. 5. Clonal Propagation. 6. Special Cultures. 7. Secondary Metabolite Production. 8. Pathology. 9. Nitrogen Fixation. 10. Storage of Cultures. 11. Genetic Modification. 12. Epilogue. 13. References. 14. Indices.

In Vitro Culture of Trees

The forests account for 29–34% of the land area on earth (FAO, 1963). Of this area approximately 60% are gymnosperms or softwoods; some 38% are angiosperms or hardwoods, with the remaining being made up of mixed forests. While most of the harvested material is used industrially, a significant portion of the hardwoods is utilized for fuel on a worldwide basis. It is generally accepted that the forests are being harvested at a faster rate than they are being regenerated, either naturally or artificially, hence, a shortage of wood and wood products has been forecasted for the end of this century (Keays, 1974). In addition, the rapid and disastrous effects of diseases, pests, and fires may jeopardize the very existence of certain tree species. Thus, there is an urgent need for larger numbers of improved, fast-growing trees (Thorpe & Biondi, 1984). At present, the tree improvement programs underway and the clonal propagation methods available offer only limited possibilities of achieving this goal.

Application of micropropagation to forestry

Micropropagation of Woody Plants

BAMBOO flowers only once during its lifetime, dying at the end of its first fruiting season. This monocarpic flowering is intriguing not only in that it occurs after a lapse of 12 to 120 years, but because it is 'gregarious', local populations of bamboo flowering together and then dying. New bamboo plants are produced either by vegetative subdivision or from seed. Breeding of bamboo, however, has proved to be extremely difficult: seed production depends on unpredictable circumstances and events1, and the basis of gregarious flowering, and the causes of death and flowering, are not known. Flowering in vitro has previously been studied by culturing expiants of stem tips, mature stems, roots, petioles, leaves, inflorescences, flowers and so on2–5. Although bamboo plantlets have been formed by means of organogenesis and embry-ogenesis6–8, in vitro flowering has not previously been reported for bamboo. We now report on an in vitro system in which we could consistently induce flowering in the two species of bamboo Bambusa arundinacea Willd and Dendrocalamus brandisii Kurz. Inflorescence expiants containing a panicle of spikelets gave rise to several viable inflorescences on subculture; fertile seeds were also produced. Further refinements to this system could lead to the introduction of breeding programmes to improve bamboo, and to the production of perennial seeds for bamboo, as well as to a better understanding of the physiology underlying flowering behaviour in bamboo.

A. L. Nadgir

Papers

Tissue culture of forest trees: Clonal multiplication of Tectona grandis L. (teak) by tissue culture

Rapid multiplication of bamboo by tissue culture.

Investigation of Biogenic Silver nanoparticles Concentrations Impact on Novel Benzofuran Derivative and Their Electrochemical Study

Photochemistry of an alpha lipoic acid-based drug and its application in dual sensing of Fe(III) and Pb(II) and logic gates