Monocots, Tissue Culture

Abstract Monocots (monocotyledonous plants) are one of the two major divisions of flowering plants, and are characterized by having parallel‐veined leaves and an embryo with a single cotyledon. Techniques of tissue and cell culture have been successfully applied to a wide range of monocot species, which include cereals and other grasses, lilies, orchids, and palms. The techniques described in this article include callus culture, cell suspension culture, regeneration of plants, protoplast culture, anther and pollen culture, and shoot tip and meristem culture. The article also covers practical applications that use technologies based on tissue and cell cultures. Examples are the rapid propagation of clonal plants, and the production of doubled haploid plants for plant breeding. Genetic transformation has also been achieved through application of tissue and cell culture techniques to grasses and cereals, bananas, pineapples, onions, garlic, and duckweeds. A further application under development is the industrial production of secondary metabolites.