Plant tissue culture (PTC) is the regeneration of a whole plant from plant cells, tissues or organs in a suitable nutrient medium under aseptic conditions. This plant sciences methodology is much useful approach for natural resources in an era where these resources are largely based on a number of economical and environmental factors. Regenerated plants are favorable for boosting the quality of human life. This book brings together a wide range of published research studies under this central theme and highlights the large number of commercial plants whose growth and development have been upgraded using tissue culture techniques.

The first chapter reviews the history and basics of PTC. The main steps and various techniques of PTC are briefly discussed. In Chapter 2, the role of silicon in PTC has been reviewed. The plant regeneration from leaf protoplast cultures of Daucus genus to facilitate their use in somatic hybridization with cultivated carrot; and carrot plants regeneration with improved tolerance to black rot are discussed in Chapters 3 and 4, respectively. The next chapter reviews the efficient methods for in vitro generation of different tomato varieties. The production of virus free plants in garlic; the alterations in DNA methylation pattern in tissue cultured triticale; and production of bacteria free grapevines using tissue culture techniques are described in Chapters 6, 7 and 8, respectively. Production of banana using tissue culture techniques is discussed in the following two chapters. In Chapter 11, discussion is on the genetic and epigenetic changes associated with somaclonal variation in a coffee species. Applications of PTC technology for the regeneration of numerous medicinal plants and production of secondary metabolites/ bioactive compounds have been discussed in length in Chapters 12-18.

I hope that this book will prove to be a convenient and beneficial source of information for both who are well versed in PTC as well as the beginners.