GM Crops and Plant Tissue Culture for Sustainable Agriculture and Health Mehta Anita, Purak Ichha, Sinha Sandhya Department of Botany, Ranchi Women's College, Ranchi. Abstract The present paper deals with the role of plant tissue culture in production of genetically modified crops. Tissue culture and plant regeneration are integral parts of most plant transformation strategies. For integrating tissue culture and plant transformation strategies a quick and efficient regeneration system must be developed. Selection of the suitable explant, manipulation of different inorganic and organic compounds, growth regulators, growth additives in the nutrient medium are very important to establish the plant in tissue culture system. Eleusine coracana Gaertn. has high potentiality to regenerate directly from mesocotyl explant in media containing different type of auxins (NAA, IAA, IBA) and growth additive (CM), either alone or in combination. In this case mesocotyl is the best explant for green embryogenic callus. Nodulated callus with heart shaped embryoids were often observed when the culture media was supplemented with slightly higher concentration of 2,4-D. Similarly Bacopa monnieri, Centlla asiatica, Gymnema sylvestris all medicinally important plants regenerate very well in in-vitro condition. Once the plant is able to establish in Tissue culture system, it can be genetically modified (GM). Agrobacterium mediated gene transfer and direct gene transfer are widely used methods for transformation. Agrobacterium mediated gene transfer with binary vectors has been successfully applied to a wide range of crop plants. In this technique ‘desired gene’ incorporates with host genome and after number of divisions it expresses itself. Four major GM crops, corn, soya, rape-seed and cotton are grown in US, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, China, South Africa since 2001. US is the largest producer of GM food crops with 20 million hectare devoted to it. Top Keywords GM crops, Tissue culture, Agriculture, Health. Top |