SOMATIC EMBRYOGENESIS: AN ALTERNATIVE METHOD FOR IN VITRO MICROPROPAGATION

Plant tissue culture is an alternative method of commercial propagation and is being used widely for the commercial propagation of a large number of plant species, including many medicinal plants. Somatic embryogenesis is a process by which asexual or somatic cells are induced to form embryos in culture. Somatic embryogenesis is a multi-step regeneration process starting with formation of pro-embryogenic masses, followed by somatic embryo formation, maturation and regeneration. This paper outlined the important processes involved in the somatic embryogenesis.