Historical Development of Plant Tissue Culture

Historical Development of Plant Tissue Culture traces key milestones from discovery to modern applications in plant science.
Historical Development of Plant Tissue Culture highlights advances enabling crop improvement and conservation.
Plant tissue culture has evolved over more than a century, with key contributions from various scientists. Here’s a concise historical timeline:

Period	Key Developments	*Scientists Involved*
19th Century	Cell Theory – Cells are the basic units of life.	Schleiden & Schwann (1838-1839)
	Totipotency Concept – Plant cells can regenerate into whole plants.	Gottlieb Haberlandt (1885)
Early 20th Century	First Tissue Culture Attempts – Unsuccessful due to lack of growth regulators.	Haberlandt (1902)
	Root Culture – Root tips successfully grown in sterile conditions.	Kotte & Robbins (1922)
	Tomato Root Culture – Proved indefinite tissue growth under controlled conditions.	Philip White (1934)
1930s-1940s	Discovery of Auxin (IAA) – Regulates cell elongation and differentiation.	F.W. Went (1937)
	Callus Culture – Established using auxins.	White & Nobécourt (1941)
	Coconut Milk in Tissue Culture – Found to enhance cell division and shoot regeneration.	Overbeek (1947)
1950s-1980s	MS Medium – A widely used culture medium.	Murashige & Skoog (1954)
	Role of Cytokinins – Essential for shoot regeneration.	Skoog & Miller (1962)
	Somatic Hybridization – Protoplast fusion techniques for genetic modification.	Various scientists (1970s)
	Commercial Applications – Used in agriculture, horticulture, forestry, and pharmaceuticals.	1980s-Present