Bioreactor Technology for Mass Propagation of Plants

Development of in vitro techniques has enabled rapid clonal propagation, regeneration, and multiplication of genetically manipulated superior clones, production of secondary metabolites, and ex situ conservation of valuable germplasm. Commercial micropropagation laboratories need to produce large number of high-quality plants at a low and efficient cost level. Large-scale plant propagation by using tissue culture techniques is often criticized because of the intensive labor requirements. Thus, special bioreactors have been developed to achieve maximum yield and high quality of the propagules; and to keep the production costs as low as possible by integration of automated control systems and simple low-cost devices. In this context, bioreactors based on the temporary immersion principle, also known as temporary immersion bioreactors (TIB) have been most applied for the multiplication of a wide range of plant species and with different regeneration pathways, including shoot multiplication via axillary bud proliferation, somatic embryogenesis, microtuber and microbulbs production. Efforts have been made towards the design of customized culture vessels, integrated control systems and illumination on TIB in order to increase plant quality, multiplication rate and biomass. Production strategies for plant propagation in TIB are discussed and examples are given to illustrate the possibilities for TIB integration in propagation and conservation of valuable germplasm.