Photoautotrophic Micropropagation: Importance of Controlled Environment in Plant Tissue Culture

Micropropagation is a method to produce genetically identical plantlets by using tissue culture techniques. Photoautotrophic micropropagation refers to micropropagation with no exogenous organic components (sugar, vitamins, etc.) added to the medium, and it has been developed along with the development of techniques of in vitro environmental control. CO₂ concentration, photosynthetic photon flux, relative humidity, and air speed in the vessel are some of the most important environmental factors affecting plantlet growth and development; controlling these factors requires knowledge and techniques of greenhouse and horticultural engineering as well as the knowledge of physiology of in vitro plantlets. Photoautotrophic micropropagation has many advantages with respect to improvement of plantlet physiology (biological aspect) and operation/management in the production process (engineering aspect), and it results in reduction of production costs and improvement in quality of plantlets.