DRAMATIC INCREASES IN SHOOT NUMBER AND LENGTHS FOR MUSA, CORDYLINE, AND NEPHRYLEPSIS USING NUTRIENT MISTS.

We have invented and tested the feasibility of a new bioreactor which employs a nutrient mist for growth of plant tissues and is readily adaptable to in vitro culture for many if not all species of plants.
The nutrient mist is produced by a submerged ultrasonic transducer which is fed nutrient medium from a reservoir provided on command by a microprocessor controlled pump.
Cells or tissues are seated on filter paper on a porous, biologically inert material (e.g. stainless steel, or polypropylene screen) within a sterile, transparent chamber which allows excess media to continuously drain away from the tissues.
Gas mixtures of any desired composition (O₂, CO₂, ethylene, air etc.) are used to alter humidity and to distribute the mist throughout the growth chamber.

Cordyline, Nephrylepsis, and Musa grew better in nutrient mist than the control plants grown in conventional agar media.
In all cases regenerated plants were taller (4–6 times) and more uniform in quality, the multiplicity cycle was shorter (25–50%), and shoot quantity was greater (3–20 times) than the controls.
This technology will significantly improve plant tissue culture operations and open up new methods for the study of in vitro plant growth and development.

Symposium on High Technology in Protected Cultivation

P.J. Weathers, R.D. Cheetham, K.L. Giles

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.1988.230.2