Advances in research on virus-free meristem tip tissue culture technology for sugarcane

The advances in virus-free tissue culture technology using meristem tip of sugarcane stalks were summarized in the paper with reference to developments in technique and its basic principles and the factors influencing virus-free tissue culture using meristem tip of sugarcane stalk. Currently, the combination and concentrations of various plant growth regulators, the composition of culture medium and generation of phenolic compounds in culture media during the culture are the main issues which are still remained to be optimized under different conditions. Researches showed that alkalinity and compounds such as malachite green, 2,4-D, thiouracil and TS preparation could enhance the efficiency of virus-free cultures in many crops. However, the use of these chemicals have not been fully exploited in sugarcane meristematic tip tissue culture. The optimization of some advanced tissue culture technologies such as temporary immersion bioreactor system, plant sugar-free tissue culture and rapid propagation technology has been discussed and use of novel technologies and modern equipments to enhance the production efficiency and reduce the production cost in tissue culture of sugarcane has been suggested.