Tissue culture –

● Plant tissue culture ➔ technique of in vitro growing cells, tissues, organs, etc.

● Through tissue culture whole plants could be regenerated from explants, i.e., any part of a plant taken out and grown in a test tube, under sterile conditions in special nutrient media. 

● This capacity to generate a whole plant from any cell/explant is called totipotency.

● Even if the plant is infected with a virus, the meristem (apical and axillary) is free of virus. 

●Hence, one can remove the meristem and grow it in vitro to obtain virus-free plants. 

● Scientists have succeeded in culturing meristems of banana, sugarcane, potato, etc.