Agristarts Introduction: The following case study is based on Agristarts virtual field trip (VFT).

The VFT should be viewed prior to conducting the case study. While the VFT presents an insight into a real world situation, the case study implements a hypothetical situation based on the VFT. This case study is designed to identify the techniques required to take tissue cultured transplants from the flask to the greenhouse through micropropagation and then preparation for shipping. Agristarts has four locations, Agristarts I, II, III and IV, and they are located in the Apopka, Florida area (www.agristarts.com). The primary focus of Agristarts is micropropagation of primarily tropical herbaceous plant material via tissue culture. Each location specializes in miropropaga tion of specific plant material. Agristarts I specializes in Alocasia, Musa, Spathiphyllum and Syngonium. Agristarts II specializes in Dieffenbachia, Ficus, Philodendron and ferns. Agristarts III specializes in insectivorous plants, Calathea, Gerbera, Hosta and grasses. Agristarts IV specializes in Anthurium, bromeliads, gingers, orchids, cordylines and homalomenas. Tissue culture can be used to establish and maintain plant organs (embryos, shoots, roots and flowers) and plant tissues (cells, callus and protoplasts) in aseptic culture (Hartman et al., 2002). Micropropagation is used as a form of clonal propagation by controlling each aspect of regeneration in tissue culture by manipulating the tissue culture environment. Micropropagation can be used to accelerate clonal propagation of plants or propagate plants that cannot be clonally propagated by any other means. Micropropagation can be divided into four stages (Hartman et al. 2002): Stage I. Establishment placing tissue into culture and having it initiate microshoots. Stage II. Multiplication inducing multiple shoot production. Stage III. Root formation initiating roots on microcuttings. Stage IV. Acclimatization moving plants to open-air conditions. The Agristarts VFT provides an overview of these four basic stages and outlines 9 steps that they use for miropropagation of plants via tissue culture. These steps include: 1) meristematic tissue development, 2) differentiation of plant tissues, 3) division of young plants by three, 4) maintenance of the mother block, 5) propagation from the mother block, 6) transplant from baby food jar to prepared media, 7) transfer to the greenhouse, 8) finishing in the greenhouse, and 9) preparation for shipping. One of the most difficult steps is the acclimatization of plants after they have been transplanted into the prepared media. The reasons that this step is of primary importance can be attributed to many factors such as a thin cuticle, small leaves, underdeveloped photosynthetic apparatus, underdeveloped roots and other physiological stresses associated with these factors.

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The Decision Case: Select one plant species from each of the four AgriStarts locations. Your job is to determine what environmental factors specific to each of these four plants will be important to the transfer from: a) tissue culture to the greenhouse and b) greenhouse to shipping. The next step will be to devise a protocol for both of these steps. Agristarts I has built various facilities and designed special equipment to reduce the stress that occurs during transplanting and shipping. Although the VFT did not cover the other three Agristarts facilities; one must wonder why each of these facilities specializes in the propagation of different plant material. The answer to this question will become more apparent as the decisions to this case study are developed. After selecting the four plant species, you should investigate the specific environmental conditions that are required for each. Knowing these conditions will help you determine some of the physiological factors specific to each plant that will need to be addressed to better implement a production protocol. Listed below are various aspects that you should consider when working on this case study. a) What type of photosynthetic apparatus does each plant species have? b) Do these plants develop roots, shoots or both very quickly? c) What type of growing substrate will work best for each species? d) What temperature, humidity and light level are appropriate for each step of the process? e) What fertilizer requirements does each plant have? f) Are there specific requirements for hardening off the plants prior to shipping? g) Are there special needs for the plants when shipping such as refrigeration, or do the shipping containers need to be modified? h) Another possibility: what is the total crop time? Based on the information that you have gathered about each of the four selected plants species, devise a production protocol for each species that includes the transfer from: a) tissue culture to the greenhouse and b) greenhouse to shipping. This can be done in an outline form making it easier to distinguish the differences between each species.

Teaching Notes: This decision case may be assigned to individual students or small groups. It is recommended that this case study be used after students have covered propagation, greenhouse environments and environmental controllers. The VFT in conjunction with the case study can be assigned prior to a class meeting so that a short discussion can be used to compare the results of the case decisions that were made.

Literature Cited: Hartmann, H.T., D.E Kester, F.T. Davies, and R.L. Geneve. 2002. Hartmann and Kesters Plant Propagation Principles and Practices 7th ed. Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ.

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