1. Introduction

Plant tissue culture depends on totipotency, which enables individual plant cells to regenerate into full plants. However, for plants to develop properly, cells must differentiate into specialized tissues such as roots, stems, and leaves.

This lesson explores how plant cells transition from totipotency to differentiation and the factors that control this process.

📌 Further Reading:

• Totipotency in Plants
• Plant Cell Differentiation

2. Totipotency: The Basis of Plant Tissue Culture

Totipotency is a unique property of plant cells that allows them to regenerate into a complete organism.

2.1 Discovery of Totipotency

• Introduced by Gottlieb Haberlandt (1902).
• Proved that plant cells retain all genetic instructions for full plant development.

2.2 How Totipotency Works

• A small tissue sample (explant) is taken from a plant.
• The explant cells divide and form an undifferentiated mass of cells (callus).
• Depending on hormonal and environmental cues, the callus differentiates into shoots, roots, or embryos.

📌 Further Reading: Haberlandt’s Contributions to Plant Science

3. Cellular Differentiation: Forming Specialized Plant Structures

As plant cells mature, they undergo differentiation, meaning they specialize into different cell types.

3.1 How Differentiation Works

• Initially, all plant cells are undifferentiated.
• Under specific signals, they turn into root, stem, or leaf cells.
• Differentiated cells lose totipotency.

3.2 Factors Controlling Differentiation

📌 Further Reading: Role of Hormones in Differentiation

4. Role of Plant Growth Regulators (PGRs)

Plant tissue culture relies on plant hormones to control cell division and differentiation.

4.1 Types of Plant Growth Regulators

📌 Further Reading: Auxins and Cytokinins in Tissue Culture

5. Practical Applications of Totipotency and Differentiation

📌 Further Reading: Plant Biotechnology Journal