Neem is a highly heterozygous and commercially important perennial plant. Conventionally, it is propagated by seeds which loose viability within two weeks. Strictly cross pollinating nature of the plant causes serious barrier to the genetic improvement by conventional methods. Alternative methods of tree improvement such as somatic hybridization, mutagenesis and genetic transformation require a...

Clonal production of loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) through somatic embryogenesis has great potential to meet the increasing industrial demands for highquality uniform raw materials. A major barrier to the commercialization of this technology is the low quality of resulting embryos. Twenty-five newly initiated loblolly pine genotypes were followed through the process of liquid culture establish...

Somatic embryogenesis is an important biotechnological tool that demonstrates significant benefits when applied to forest tree species; clonal propagation, cryostorage of valuable germoplasm and genetic transformation are among the most promising of its applications. In this chapter, the state of the art of somatic embryogenesis in chestnut (an important economical tree species of the genus Cas...

Somatic embryogenesis and transformation systems are indispensable modern plant breeding components since they provide an alternative platform to develop control strategies against the plethora of pests and diseases affecting many agronomic crops. This review discusses some of the factors affecting somatic embryogenesis and transformation, highlights the advantages and limitations of these syst...

Perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.) and tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea Schreb.) are two major turfgrass species in the United States. Their improvement via biotechnology approaches depend on the tissue culture response, particularly in vitro plant regeneration. To understand more of the regeneration event, scanning electron microscopy was performed and somatic embryogenesis was revealed in...

CURRENT SCIENCE, VOL. 108, NO. 10, 25 MAY 2015 1782 *A report on the Brainstorming session on ‘Somatic Embryogenesis and Use of Bioreactors’ organized by ICAR-Central Plantation Crops Research Institute, Kasaragod on 2 August 2014. on-line); http://mdgs.un.org/unsd/mdg/ SeriesDetail.aspx?srid=784 12. Hubbell, S. P., In Tropical Forest Diversity and Dynamism (eds Losos, E. C. and Leigh, E. G.), ...

Somatic embryogenesis (SE) is a powerful tool for plant genetic improvement when used in combination with traditional agricultural techniques, and it is also an important technique to understand the different processes that occur during the development of plant embryogenesis. SE onset depends on a complex network of interactions among plant growth regulators, mainly auxins and cytokinins, durin...