CELL AND TISSUE AND ORGAN CULTURE

Introduction:
Tissue culture is the growth of tissues and/or cells separate from the
organism. This is typically facilitated via use of a liquid, semi-solid, or
solid growth medium, such as broth or agar. Tissue culture commonly refers
to the culture of animal cells and tissues, while the more specific term plant
tissue culture is being named for the plants.
( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tissue_culture)

Historical usage:
In 1885 Wilhelm Roux removed a portion of the modularry plate of
an embryonic chicken and maintained it in a warm saline solution for
several days, establishing the basic principle of tissue culture.

In 1907 the zoologist Ross Granville Harrison demonstrated the growth of

frog nerve cell processes in a medium of clotted lymph.
In 1913, E. Steinhardt, C. Israeli, and R. A. Lambert grew vaccinia virus in
fragments of guinea pig corneal tissue.
( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tissue_culture)

Modern usage:
In modern usage, "tissue culture" generally refers to the growth
of eukaryotic cells in vitro. It is often used interchangeably with cell
culture to specifically describe the in vitro culturing of sperm donor
cells.

However, "tissue culture" can also be used to refer to the culturing of tissue
pieces, i.e. explant culture or whole organs, i.e. organ culture.
It is a tool for the study of animal cell biology in vitro model of cell growth
to allow a highly selective environment which is easily manipulated (used to
optimize cell signaling pathways). (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tissue_culture)

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF PLANT CELL AND

TISSUE CULTURE:

During 19th century the idea of development of callus (a disorganized

proliferated mass of actively dividing cells) from isolated stem fragments
and root apices came into existence. Callus could also be developed from
buds, and root and shoot fragments of about 1.5 mm in size without using
nutrient medium.

For the first time in Berlin, Homeland (1902) originated the concept of cell
culture. He attempted to cultivate the isolated plant cells in vitro on an
artificial medium (knop’s solution, peptone, asparagin and sucrose).
The term “Tissue culture” can be applied to any multicellular culture
growing on a solid medium (or attached to substratum and nurtured with a
liquid medium) that consists of many cells in protoplasmic continuity. But in
organ culture (e.g. excised root) the cultured plant material maintains its
morphological identity, more or less, with the same anatomy and physiology
as in vitro of the parent plants (Doods and Roberts, 1985).

Until the early 1930s, R.P. white (USA). Gautheret (France) and Nobercourt
(France) independently cultured tissues excised from several plants on the
defined nutrients media for a long period. Gautheret (1939) cultured
cambium tissue of carrot on knops solution supplemented with other
chemicals in trace amount. White (1939) cultured tobacco tumour tissue
from the hybrids Nicotiana glauca, and N. Langsdorffii.

In the 1950s several important achievements were made in the field of plant
physiology. The understanding of plant growth hormones in rapid
multiplication of totipotent cell was developed.
At the University of Wisconsin, Skoog and co-workers fount out the role of
cytokinins in tissue culture. Consequently, several chemicals were tested
which stimulated callus.
Adenine in the presence of auxin was found to induce callus growth and bud
formation in tobacco cultures (Skoog and Tsui, 1948). Eventually a potent
cell division factor from degraded DNA preparations was isolated, identified
and named as kinetin (miller et al., 1955). The term cytokinen was given to
this group after substituting the aminopurine compounds that stimulate cell
division in cultured plant tissue and behave physiologically similar to
kinetin.
Later on other cytokinins (the naturally occurring plant hormones) such as
zeatin, and isopentyl adenine were discovered. Skoog and Miller (1957)
advanced the hypothesis of organogenesis in cultured callus by varying the
ratio of auxin and cytokinen in the growth medium. The shoot was formed
with keeping the ratio of kinetin higher and root developed when ratio was
lower.

When fragments of callus are transferred into a liquid medium and aerated
on a shaker, it gives a suspension of single cell and aggregate of cells. A cell
can be propagated by subculturing Muir (1953) developed a successful
technique for the culture of single isolated cells which is commonly known
as paper-raft nurse technique (placing a single cell on filter paper kept on an
actively growing nurse tissue). Later on, attempts were also made for single
cell culture by hanging drop and agar plate method. During this period
phenomenon of totipotency was fully develop by demonstrating that a single
isolated cell can divide and regenerate a whole plant (Vasil and Hilderbrant,
1965).
Cell wall creates a barrier in plant protoplast culture. In 1960s, the role of
enzymes e.g. cellulose and pectinase in dissolution of cell wall in buffer
solution at suitable pH, and isolation and culture of protoplast was develop
(cocking, 1960). During this period extensive study of plant tissue culture
was done by using the explant (excised plant parts) from different parts of
the gymnosperms and angiosperms. Guha and Maheshwari (1966) develop
techniques for the production of vast numbers of embryos from cultures of
pollens and sporogenous tissues of anther. Nitsch (1974) gave method to
double the chromosomes number in microspores of Nicotiana and Datura,
and collected seeds from the homozygous diploid plants within 5 months.
However, the benefits from protoplast culture currently availed are:
1) Intraspecific, interspecific and intergeneric protoplast fusion and some
times between plant and animals.
2) Transfer of mitochondria and plastid into protoplast,
3) Uptake of certain beneficial genes of blue-green algae, bacteria and
viruses by protoplasts, and
4) Transfer of genetic informations into isolated protoplasts.

Vasil (1982) has emphasized to develop the following techniques to cell

culture and somatic genetics of mainly grasses and cereals:
1) Rapid clonal propagation.
2) Regeneration from single cell and protoplast.
3) Androgenetic haploid.
4) Mutant/variant cell lines and plant regeneration.
5) Somatic hybridization.
6) Transformation and molecular biology.(R.C DUBEY)

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND ANIMAL CELL AND

TISSUE CULTURE:

In animal tissue regeneration in amphibians and metamorphosis in insects

are known since long time but cell and tissue of vertebrates were not
cultured for a long time. In recent years, interest arose on cell and tissue
of birds and mammals. The techniques have been much improved with
the development of culture media, creation of microbe-free environments
and controlled artificial conditions.

The beginning of animal tissue culture can be traced to 1880 when

Arnold showed that leucocytes can divide outside the body. Later, in
1903, Jolly studied the behaviour of animal tissue explants immersed in
serum, lymph or ascites fluid.

A few years later, in 1913, Carrel developed a complicated methodology

for maintaining cultures free from contamination, especially by bacteria.

In 1907, Ross Harrison made first attempt to culture animal cells, and
cultivated embryonic nerve cells of a frog by using hanging drop method.
Thereafter, this method was extended and wide range of mammalians
cells were cultured in vitro. However, after supplementing with embryo
extract of chick and plasma, cells proliferated well.

These provide nutrients and proliferation factors. Moreover, cell culture

method was quite improved after the discovery of antibiotics during
1940s. The significance of animal cell culture was increased when
viruses was used to produce vaccines on animal cell cultures in late
1940s. Similarly during 1950s polio vaccine production on cultured cells
increased the significance of animal cell culture technology (Anon,
1988).( R.C DUBEY)

BIBLIOGRAPHY:
1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tissue_culture
2. R.C.DUBEY, A TEXT BOOK OF BIOTECHNOLOGY, 1st edi(1993)
page no. 153,154 and 113.