Integration of Plant Tissue Culture into Protocols and Methods of Plant Biotechnology

Tissue culture and plant regeneration were an integral part of most plant transformation strategies. Various methods of plant regeneration were available to the plant biotechnologist. Key to success in integrating plant tissue culture into protocols of plant biotechnology was the realization that a quick and efficient regeneration system. Not all plant tissues were suited to every transformation method, and not all plant species could be regenerated by every method. There was therefore a need to find both a suitable plant tissue culture/regeneration regime and compatible plant transformation methodology. Some crops might be amenable to a variety of regeneration and transformation strategies, and others might currently be limited only to one particular protocol. Some protocols, at least at the moment were clearly efficient than others. Regeneration from immature embryo-derived somatic embryos was the favoured method for regenerating monocotyledon and woody species that were known to be difficult because of the variability of response to particular protocols.