Question: how do cells multiply in tissue culture used in propagating plants?

Jacquie Oliwa answered on 6 Jul 2017:

Hi there..
Tissue culture is an important component of transforming plants with new genes.

During this procedure, plant cells can be removed from various parts of a plant and placed on media in petri plates. The media does not contain the growth hormones normally present in a plant that tell the cells which tissue to develop into. As a result, the cells do not differentiate and instead form a mass of cells called a callus that are not differentiated into at the tissue level.

Since plant cells are totipotent (i.e have the ability to grow, divide, and differentiate into an entire plant. Mammalian cells do not have this ability..) growth hormones can be added to the media triggering the callus cells to develop roots, shoots and eventually entire plants. Plants regenerated from tissue culture will be clones genetically identical to the cell they originated from.

I hope this answers your question?
Best wishes,
Jacquie