Tissue Culture-A Sustainable Approach to Explore Plant Stresses

Plants are constantly faced with biotic or abiotic stress, which affects their growth and development. Yield reduction due to biotic and abiotic stresses on economically important crop species causes substantial economic loss at a global level. Breeding for stress tolerance to create elite and superior genotypes has been a common practice for many decades, and plant tissue culture can be an efficient and cost-effective method. Tissue culture is a valuable tool to develop stress tolerance, screen stress tolerance, and elucidate physiological and biochemical changes during stress. In vitro selection carried out under controlled environment conditions in confined spaces is highly effective and cheaper to maintain. This review emphasizes the relevance of plant tissue culture for screening major abiotic stresses, drought, and salinity, and the development of disease resistance. Further emphasis is given to screening metal hyperaccumulators and transgenic technological applications for stress tolerance.

Automated summary

Plants face both biotic and abiotic stresses, affecting their growth and development. The resulting yield reduction in economically important crops leads to significant global economic losses. Breeding for stress tolerance has been a common practice, and plant tissue culture has proven to be an efficient and cost-effective method for this purpose. It is particularly useful for screening major abiotic stresses, such as drought and salinity, and for developing disease-resistant plants. In addition, tissue culture allows for in vitro selection under controlled conditions, which is highly effective and affordable to maintain. This review highlights the importance of plant tissue culture in screening for stress tolerance and its applications in studying physiological and biochemical changes during stress, as well as in the development of stress-tolerant genotypes.