| Tissue Culture, Morphogenesis &
Regeneration |
| |
| |
| DU - 9 |
DP - 2 |
| Group Leader |
Dr. A. K. Sharma, Sci 'F' |
|
Contact
|
Work |
91-522-
2205835 Ext. 288 |
| Email |
ashok_nbri@hotmail.com |
|
| |
| |
Other Scientists of the Group
|
| Dr. (Mrs.) Meena Sharma, Sci
'EII' (Project Leader)
Dr. (Mrs.) M.B.Jain, Sci 'C'
Dr. (Mrs.) Pratibha Misra, Sci 'C'
|
| |
Group works on
|
| In the Tissue Culture Laboratory, morphogenetic studies are being
pursued in tissue and organ cultures of economic plants, which
include fruits, medicinals, ornamentals and forest trees, mainly
with the objective of understanding the process of growth and
differentiation, particularly for cloning even the intractable-to-regenerate
plant systems, as well as for developing in vitro
strategies for germplasm preservation in order to develop
a Tissue or Gene Bank.
|
| |
Achievements of the Laboratory
|
-
Regeneration of a complete perennial
plant from its somatic callus concurrent with work
in carrot: Regeneration of complete plants of
Rauvolfia serpentina (Sarpgandha) from somatic
callus, which fruited normally in soil is contemporary
to the work on carrot tissue culture done in U.S.A.
and the first for any perennial plant, where the origin
of the plants has been traced to their mother cells
in somatic callus tissue (results presented in a Ph.D.
thesis, perhaps the first thesis wholly devoted to
Morphogenesis in Tissue Culture, Chaturvedi, 1968;
Mitra and Chaturvedi, 1970).
-
Regeneration of complete plants of first
fruit tree, viz. Citrus from somatic tissue: Regeneration
of complete fruiting plants of Citrus (citrus) from
somatic tissue, which has been the first report in case of
any fruit tree (Mitra and Chaturevdi, 1972; manuscript submitted
in 1970) and second of any tree produced from somatic tissue
in vitro - first being of Populus tremuloides
(aspen) in U.S.A. by Winton on the subject.
-
First Large-scale field trial in the
country of an intractable-to-regenerate plant - Dioscorea
floribunda:
Development of the technology for in vitro
mass production of cloned plants of Dioscorea floribunda
(medicinal yam; Chaturvedi, 1975) with demonstration of their
large-scale field cultivation (first in the country for any
Tissue Culture-raised plant species) in order to fulfill the
need for raw material - diosgenin - for production of contraceptive
pills in the National Family Planning Programme, was considered
a no less than World News and found place in editorial of
reputed national newspapers such as The Times of India, February
25, 1976, The Financial Express, New Delhi, February 23, 1976.
-
The first industry-funded research at
NBRI: At the instance of M/s Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd.,
New Delhi, and with their financial assistance, a protocol
was developed for rapid clonal multiplication of Rosmarinus
officinalis (rosemary), a miracle herb, during 1981-85
(Chaturvedi et al., 1984).
-
Development of in vitro cloning
process of Jojoba in the face of global failure on this score:
Protocol was developed for the production of true-to-type
plants of a commercially most important dioecious plant, Simmondsia
chinensis, commonly known as Jojoba (Chaturvedi and Sharma,
1989), seeds of which yield a natural substitute for the precious
oil of sperm whale, an endangered species, while such a proposition
was declared as not possible by the researchers working at
the University of California in the scientifically most advanced
country, like, U.S.A. (Rost and Hinchee, 1980).
-
First cloning of bamboo using explants
from mature Culms: A process was developed, for the first
time in the world, for cloning of any bamboo, in this case,
Dendrocalamus strictus (a bamboo, commercially most
important) through explants taken from field-grown culms (Chaturvedi
et al., 1993).
|
-
Germplasm preservation through
excised root culture - an innovative method developed:
An innovative method of germplasm preservation through
regenerative excised root culture has been propounded
and demonstrated for a number of economic plants, including
trees, viz. Populus deltoides (poplar), Azadirachta
indica (neem) and Dalbergia latifolia (rosewood)
by retrieving normal plants from 14 to16 year old cultures
in certain cases, which may merit as World Record, (Chaturvedi
et al., 1991, 2004).
|
|
|
-
i. A breakthrough in Citrus
Shoot Meristem Culture: A breakthrough at the
International level has been achieved by developing
a process of regeneration of excised shoot meristems,
measuring as small as 0.2 mm in length, of two commercially
most important Citrus species, viz. C. aurantifolia
(lime) and C. sinensis (sweet orange) and
an important Citrus rootstock, viz, C.limonia
(Rangpur lime)(Chaturvedi et al ,2001). It may
be emphasized that shoot meristem culture of citrus
eluded success since mid-sixties despite efforts of
the world's most competent group in the world's most
advanced country, i.e., U.S.A.
|
|
|
- ii. Production of Pathogen-free plants of
Citrus:
Application of the shoot meristem culture for demonstrating
production of clean stocks (free from viruses and other
pathogens) of important Citrus spp. and their root stocks
was undertaken in a DBT-sponsored project with
Dr. Chaturvedi as its P.I.
|
|
|
-
National Technology Award: On
the technology developed for mass clonal multiplication
of the forest tree, Populus deltoides through
Tissue Culture, Dr. Chaturvedi has been given a National
Award for Development of Technology for Advancement
of Science:Biotechnology Efforts for the year 2000 on
the Technology Day, the 11th May 2000, by the DBT/DST,
Ministry of Science and Technology, New Delhi, Government
of India.The technology has been transferred to TERI,
New Delhi for upscaling, which has subsequently been
taken up by M/s Cadila Pharmaceuticals Ltd. Ahmedabad.
The technology in the form of a protocol for cloning
of commercial clones of P. deltoides has
since then been published (Chaturvedi et al., 2004)
|
|
|
-
In vitro cloning of mature trees
of commercial value: Cloning of genotypes of such
a medicinally important tree, like, Azadirachta indica
was achieved to a good extent, even in case of mature
trees, including one of its more vigorously growing somaclonal
variant employing vegetative explants from field-grown trees.
Similarly, cloning of Mitragyna parvifolia (Kaddam),
a commercially invaluable tree for plywood industry, was performed
again using vegetative explants from mature trees.
-
Slow growth culture with record long
incubation: A significant achievement in germplasm preservation
has been made in formulating the culture conditions for long-term
slow growth culture of shoot apices of Glycyrrhiza glabra
(licorice), a 100% imported medicinal plant, where shoots
grown in vitro for more than 7 years without subculture, observed
so far, could be retrieved to normal plants (Chaturvedi
et al., 2004).
-
In vitro technology for Dwarf Banana
as crop for Lucknow and Northern Plains:
Another technology of mass clonal production through in
vitro strategy for establishment of a dwarf variety
of Musa paradisiaca (banana), i.e., Cavendish
(Basrai) in Lucknow and Northern plains will ameliorate the
nutritional problem, particularly of the poor population of
this region. The in vitro-raised banana plants of this
variety have been demonstrated to perform exceedingly well
and produce normal fruits with perfect flavour under the
Lucknow climate.
-
Success in tissue culture of mango -
A big challenge: The most difficult challenge of
producing superior orchards of prized varieties of Mangifera
indica (mango) of Lucknow and adjacent mango belt, like,
Dasheri, Safeda, Chausa, Amrapali and Langra along with their
rootstocks has been accomplished in a major way and certain
leads obtained (Chaturvedi et al., 2003, 2004a, b).
-
In vitro production of commercial ornamentals:
Protocols have been developed for rapid clonal multiplication
of a number of commercially important ornamentals, viz. Gladiolus
(gladiolus), Gerbera jamesonii (gerbera), Dianthus
caryophyllus (carnation), Sinningia speciosa (gloxinia),
Zantedeschia spp. (calla lily), Syngonium podophyllum,
Variegated (syngonium), etc., including orchids,
which can be exploited for Floriculture Industry. (Chaturvedi
et al., 1995).
-
Singular contributions regarding some
fundamental aspects in tissue culture: Besides the above-mentioned
achievements, some very significant achievements of fundamental
nature have also been made in the field of In Vitro
Morphogenesis. For example, nutrient formulations were found
out for tailoring the root system from several weak adventitious
roots to a strong tap root-like system, which is of great
significance, particularly in the case of micropropagated
trees (Chaturvedi, 1979), control of morphogenetic pattern
of differentiation from shoot buds to somatic embryos through
managing culture conditions (Chaturvedi and Sinha, 1979),
control of efficacy of growth hormones by inorganic salts
of the nutrient medium (Misra and Chaturvedi, 1991) etc.
-
A process in respect of an important pulse- Cajanas cajan
(pigeon pea) for multiple regenertion of shoot meristems
from leaves has been developed both for utilization for its
rapid cloning and transformation studies ( Jain and Chaturvedi,
2004).
-
National Plant Conservation Programme:
In vitro methods are being developed for rapid
micropropagation/cloning and germplasm preservation of certain
target plant species of Indo-Gangetic plains for the ultimate
aim of their rehabilitation in the natural habitat for
conservation and sustained utilization.
-
United States Patent Granted No:
6, 485, 975
Method for regenerating viable and fertile Citrus plants
by tissue culture from explants
Chaturvedi, H. C, Singh, S. K. and Sharma, A. K. 2002
|
Advantages
|
The main advantages of the present invention are :
-
The protocol developed will afford rapid
production of cloned and pathogen-free plants of elite trees
of two commercially most important Citrus species even
if the mother trees were diseased.
-
Establishment of disease-free citrus orchards
will lead to not only to self-sufficiency by increased fruit
production, but also export promotion through a strong Citrus
Industry of International standards.
|
| |
| |
|
