Plant Tissue Culture Techniques for Breeding

Several tissue culture techniques can be used to generate genetic variation in plants. These in vitro procedures have been applied successfully in many species and have been used to create plants that are disease and insect resistant and tolerant to water stress and demonstrate enhanced growth and improved yields and much more. Traditional plant breeding is enhanced with techniques such as embryo culture to rescue recalcitrant hybrids. Technologies as protoplast fusion and somaclonal variation are used to exploit existing genetic diversity or to produce new genetic variability. Once new plants are developed, micropropagation can be used to efficiently clonally propagate large numbers for the commercial market. Genetic engineering would not be possible without the involvement of in vitro plant tissue culture regeneration procedures.