TITLE:
Thinking inside the Box: Tissue Culture for Plant Propagation in a Key Ecological Species, Andropogon gerardii
AUTHORS:
Ava M. Hoffman, Melinda D. Smith
KEYWORDS:
Intraspecific Diversity, Micropropagation, Perennial Grass, Ecology
JOURNAL NAME:
American Journal of Plant Sciences,
Vol.9 No.10,
September
5,
2018
ABSTRACT: Intraspecific
diversity has widespread effects on ecological communities and ecosystems. To
elucidate the mechanisms underlying these effects, manipulative studies require
a rigorous and efficient empirical approach. Yet, replicating sufficient
numbers of genetically identical individuals remains a challenge. As a result,
we are limited in our understanding of the mechanisms underlying the ecological
effects of intraspecific diversity. In contrast, large sample sizes are
routinely produced in horticultural research using micropropagation, or tissue
culture. In order to determine the potential usefulness of micropropagation
technique for ecological studies, we investigated the efficiency and efficacy
of micropropagation on the
ecologically important non-model C4 grass species, Andropogon gerardii. Our preliminary results demonstrate that micropropagation is a rapid
and effective technique for producing large numbers of genetically identical
clones at up to 100 times the rate of traditional propagation. Key intraspecific differences among clones of A.
gerardii were also retained through the micropropagation
process. Given that traditional techniques used to test the effects of intraspecific
diversity manipulations are time-limiting (greenhouse propagation) or can be
biologically misrepresentative (seeds) for some species, we suggest that micropropagation
might be a powerful tool for advancing ecological genetics studies in many
plant systems.