Plant Cell Culture (Biology (University Press of the Pacific))

This book describes the research from various authors on cultured cell cultivation. It is very important for the preservation of rare and vanishing plants, for producing from cell biomass commercially important medicines or substances necessary for the food and cosmetic industries.

The Range of biotechnological applications of plant cell cultures depends on how well the biology of the cultivated cells is understood. The problems of homeostasis of the growth and metabolism regulation of cultured cells in submerged cultivation are discussed on the basis of a number of models. Prominence is given to spontaneous and induced genetic variability in cell populations and to its utilization for cell selection in respect to stress stability. Cryoconservation is suggested as a method of preserving the genetic stability of cell strains, mutants, and hybrids. The genetic results of the remote hybridization of somatic plant cells are evaluated from the standpoint of their usefullness for the general genectics of plants and for plant breeding. Hormonal control of the differentiation and morphogenesis of cultured cells is discussed as a means of investigating the basic principles of plant development and as a method for realizing the results of manipulation of plant cells and protoplasts.