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Cited by 63Plant tissue culture and regenerationPlant Molecular Biology ResearchHistory of Science and Medicine

The Scientific Roots of Modern Plant Biotechnology

Open access
Sussex, Ian M.·2008·The Plant Cell
DOI 10.1105/tpc.108.058735PMC PMC2438469
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Abstract

Chronology of Research Leading to Modern Plant Biotechnology. Some of the major steps and publications are listed. Further details, definitions, and additional citations are provided in the main text. Philip White worked at the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research in Princeton, New Jersey in the 1930s to develop an experimental system with which to study metabolism in a completely undifferentiated tissue where all cells are identical and hence exert similar influences on one another. White (1939a) defined a plant tissue culture as a system in which cells satisfied two main requirements of remaining “undifferentiated yet capable of unlimited growth” (White, 1939a). Earlier attempts, starting in the late nineteenth century, to grow plant parts in isolation from the organism did not satisfy these requirements and failed for a variety of reasons, including microbial contamination, inadequate nutrient media, and poor selection of tissues to culture (White, 1931; Gautheret, 1983; Höxtermann, 1997). The most successful of the early attempts involved the culture of maize, pea, and cotton root tips (Kotte, 1922; Robbins, 1922). These could be excised from the plant with minimal trauma and grown aseptically for a few weeks in nutrient media, but ultimately growth ceased. White (1934) succeeded in growing excised tomato root tips for potentially unlimited periods of time in a liquid medium containing inorganic salts, 2% sucrose, and 0.01% yeast extract. Tips were excised from seedling roots and subcultured at regular intervals. After 52 subcultures over >400 d, the cultured roots showed no diminution of growth rate. White calculated that by this time any nutrients and regulatory substances in the original root tip would have been diluted to ∼10−40, and he concluded that the nutrient medium had supported indefinite growth of the root tips. Thus, while he had demonstrated “potentially unlimited growth,” the second part of his definition of a tissue culture had not been met because the roots clearly were not undifferentiated. White (1939a) addressed this second question using a hybrid between Nicotiana glauca and N. langsdorffii. The hybrid plants produced tumor-like calluses and galls on the stem and leaves. Tissue removed aseptically from young stems was cultured on the same nutrient medium used for tomato roots. Proliferated masses from the original explants were divided and subcultured at weekly intervals through 40 subcultures. White calculated that any material from the original explant would have been diluted to at least 10−17 by this time and that the cultures therefore satisfied the criterion of a capacity for unlimited growth. The question remained as to whether the cells in the culture were undifferentiated. Histological examination revealed only mature parenchyma cells, regions of dividing meristematic cells, and occasional isolated xylem cells. Despite this level of cellular heterogeneity, White concluded that these tissues approximated an undifferentiated condition and grew for potentially unlimited periods and therefore were true tissue cultures. Scientific results are greatly strengthened when other workers with appropriate expertise replicate the original findings. Remarkably, this occurred within 6 weeks of the publication of White's results. Two French workers, Roger Gautheret in Paris and Pierre Nobécourt in Grenoble, both of whom had been attempting to culture plant tissues for several years, reported potentially unlimited growth of cultures derived from carrot tap root tissue when the growth substance indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) was incorporated in the culture medium (Gautheret, 1939; Nobécourt, 1939). Neither cited White (1939a), and presumably they were unaware of his results. Neither study was as detailed as White's. Gautheret cultured tissue for 13 months making bimonthly subcultures, and Nobécourt cultured tissue for 20 months making seven subcultures. White's objective, of studying metabolism in an undifferentiated tissue wherein all the cells are identical and presumably exert similar influences on one another, appears not to have been followed up by him or his contemporaries. It was not until many years later that other scientists began using methods developed by White to study cellular metabolism. Notably, H.E. Street at Manchester University used cultured excised tomato roots in an extensive series of studies to examine the metabolism of inorganic ions, carbohydrates, amino acids, and hormones (Street, 1957). A more direct approach to White's original intention was followed by F.C. Steward and colleagues at Cornell University. They examined metabolic states in three contrasting carrot tap root cultures: secondary phloem cells as they existed in the intact root, excised tissue maintained on a minimal medium where cells grew predominantly by enlargement, and actively metabolizing cells stimulated by coconut milk in the medium to divide as rapidly as possible. They documented signifi

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Authors
Sussex, I. M.
Affiliations
Yale University (US)
Corresponding author
Sussex, Ian M.
Venue
The Plant Cell
Publisher
Oxford University Press (OUP)
Published
2008-05
Volume
20
Issue
5
Pages
1189-1198
ISSN
  • 1040-4651 (ISSN-L)
  • 1532-298X
DOI
10.1105/tpc.108.058735
PMC
PMC2438469
OpenAlex
W2053210153
Cited by
63
References
78
Citations by year
2026: 4 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 8 · 2020: 3 · 2019: 5 · 2018: 6 · 2017: 7 · 2016: 8 · 2015: 1 · 2014: 2 · 2013: 5
FWCI
0.41
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
aspb.org/publications/aspb-journals/open-articles (vor, 365 d)
Locations
  • The Plant Cell (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Plant tissue culture and regeneration
  • Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Plant Science › Plant Molecular Biology Research
  • Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › History and Philosophy of Science › History of Science and Medicine
Keywords
plant tissue culture, callus culture, Nicotiana glauca, Nicotiana langsdorffii, hybridization
MeSH terms
Biotechnology, Plant Tumors, Plants, Genetically Modified, Tissue Culture Techniques

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