TOWARD MASS PROPAGATION BY USE OF BIOREACTORS

Labour reducing automation is essential for future strategies of in vitro propagation.
Freely suspended somatic embryos grown in liquid media under controlled conditions could be an ideal mass propagation system.
Bioreactor vessels equipped with silicone tubes for bubble free aeration in combination with a vibration stirrer proved to be suitable for cell growth and somatic embryogenesis in Euphorbia pulcherrima.
The cell doubling time in suspensions decreased from 57 to 40 hours when the oxygen concentration was increased in the liquid medium from 10 to 60 % maximum air saturation.
The specific growth rate (μ) decreased rapidly below 10 % po₂. Embryogenic suspensions grown at 60 % po₂ resulted in normal and irregular embryos after plating on filter paper placed in Petri dishes on solid medium.
The total number of normal developing embryos was approximately 100,000 in 1 liter suspension.
These preliminary results indicate that bioreactor culture offers promising aspects for mass propagation of species which are able to develop somatic embryos in suspension culture and express low somaclonal variability.

International Symposium on Propagation of Ornamental Plants

W. Preil, P. Florek, U. Wix, A. Beck

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.1988.226.9