The Bamboo tissue culture facility at the Biotechnology Department is maintained to standardise the protocols for micropropagation of commercial bamboo species of interest to assure year-round production of propagules in large numbers.
The efficiency to regenerate very profusely in in-vitro conditions would enable larger-scale production of plantlets of bamboo species even in the absence of a seed set. While the potential for commercialization has been shown by various methods, axillary bud proliferation is generally the preferred shoot proliferation method due to the lower risk of genetic variation.
The target species include Dendrocalamus strictus, Bambusa balcooa, Bambusa tulda and commercially important species like Dendrocalamus stocksii for large scale cultivation in Peninsular India as a substitute in furniture industry owing to its solid nature of culms and good culm wall thickness. Tissue culture protocols for the micro-propagation of Bambusa tulda, B. vulgaris and Dendrocalamus stocksii were standardised through the financial support of the National Bamboo Mission (NBM), Govt. of India.
Commercial utilization of tissue culture plantlets warrants genetic stability among the in vitro raised plantlets so as to ensure the intended productivity in line with the selected superior mother genotypes. Somaclonal variation is a major constraint which usually occurs during the de-differentiation and re-differentiation processes in in vitro culture when a plant tissue is passaged through in vitro culture process, generally due to the stresses in the culture environments.
DNA tools for genetic fidelity testing of tissue culture derived plantlets were also standardised through the program. Recently, with the financial support received from the National Bamboo Mission (NBM), Govt. of India, the facility has been strengthened to meet the current research targets in the field of Plant Tissue Culture including genetic fidelity testing. The research was also focused to bring out cost-effective innovations and technological advancements which have great potential to transform a capital intensive micropropagation technique into an entrepreneur-friendly practice.
Contact:
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Dr. Suma Arun Dev
Scientist in charge, Dept. of Forest Genetics and Biotechnology, Kerala Forest Research Institute.
91-487-2690192
tissueculture@bambooinfo.in
