Question

Meristem culture cannot be used for
A. Rapid clonal multiplication
B. Production of virus-free plant
C. For embryo rescue
D. Conservation of germplasm

Answer 1

Plant tissue culture involves various methods that use plant parts to develop multiple progenies from the single plant. It is also known as micro-propagation. Meristem culture is a technique of micro-propagation that involves culturing plant apical meristem tissue into an optimum medium and finally growing plants free of viruses.

Complete answer:
Meristem tissues are collections of young, undifferentiated cells in the shoots or roots of plants.
Meristem culture helps in growing plants that are free from viruses. In this technique, a V-shaped cut is given at the shoot region of a plant. The cut region is then transferred to MS (Murashige and Skoog’s) nutrient medium.
Rapid clonal multiplication is a technique used to make plant clones by culturing the meristem tissues and the addition of plant growth hormones to the medium in order to increase the growth rate of callus culture.
Production of virus-free plants is the main application of meristem culture. Eg. Plants like petunia were attacked by Tobacco Mosaic Virus. Plant Biologists have been able to successfully eliminate the TMV infection using meristem culture. Similarly, the Cauliflower Mosaic Virus has been eliminated from the Brassica oleracea plants, etc.
Embryo rescue is an in-vitro tissue culture technique in which an immature embryo or proembryo is cultured in MS nutrient medium to help it develop into a plant.
Germplasm is the part having the genetic material that is inherited to its offspring i.e. seeds. It is important to store seeds of different varieties of plants in order to grow them in the future. This in-vitro technique is called germplasm conservation.
The whole embryo must be placed in the medium for embryo rescue, unlike the meristem culture technique.

Hence, the correct answer is option (C).

Note: The nutrient medium used for plant tissue culture was developed by Murashige and Skoog’s. In 1952, Morel and Martin developed the meristem culture technique.

This technique has various advantages like:
-Producing disease-resistant plant varieties.
-Seeds conservation for desired characteristics of plants.
-Formation of multiple clones or explants from a single plant