Introduction to Plant Tissue Culture
Second Edition
M. K. Razdan
ISBN 978-1-57808-237-7; 2003; 330 pages, pb; US $ 49.50      Buy Now

First edition was published by Intercept.

In this book author has combined his extensive research experience using plant tissue culture with his extensive knowledge of the needs of students for a subject that increasingly pervades most aspects of the plant sciences. Moreover, the book avoids the fragmentation often present in multi-authored compilations. Students need to have at hand a clearly written, well-documented text that puts into perspective the plant tissue culture requirements for particular applications, yet which also enables students to undertake experiments themselves with the minimum of additional guidance. Students will benefit greatly from this clearly presented and illustrated text, and from the analysis of the historical development of a subject with its beginnings in the 18th Century, in studies of callus formation associated with wound healing in trees, to its use in cell and molecular biological studies of plant genetic manipulations. This book is particularly well referenced, enabling the reader to follow up in greater detail points of interest, either theoretical or practical. plant tissuee culture, mainly because of the great number of interacting factors involved, tends to be largely empirical. In future years the applications of plant tissuee culture in clonal propagation, plant breeding and plant genetic manipulation will increasingly depend on a better understanding of these interacting factors.

Introduction and Techniques
. Introductory History
. Laboratory Organisation
. Media
. Aseptic Manipulation

Basic Aspects
. Cell Culture
. Cellular Totipotency
. Somatic Embryogenesis

Applications to Plant Breeding
. Haploid Production
. Triploid Production
. In Vitro Pollination and Fertilization
. Zygotic Embryo Culture
. Somatic Hybridisation and Cybridisation
. Genetic Transformation
. Somaclonal and Gametoclonal Variant Selection

Application to Horticulture and Forestry
. Production of Disease-Free Plants
. Clonal Propagation

General Applications
. Industrial Applications: Secondary Metabolite Production
. Germplasm Conservation