ABSTRACT
There are several possible applications of tissue culture technology. The most notable are the use of tissue culture as a tool to genetically modify plants for plant breeding and the application of tissue culture techniques to the in vitro propagation of plants. The techniques of in vitro propagation have application with vegetable crops for the same reasons they apply to ornamentals. These include: production of virus-free stock plants, production of large numbers of genetically identical plants, and propagation of large numbers of plants where seed production is difficult. This chapter explores the techniques and approaches used in the in vitro propagation of vegetable crops and to survey and establishes the current state of the art for each major crop species. It provides the reader with a more general background into in vitro propagation and investigates specific aspects of the process as they apply directly to vegetable crops.
