Ch. 8— The Application of Genetics to Plants • 143 
Table 25.— Some Plants Propagated Through 
Tissue Culture for Production or Breeding 
Agriculture and 
horticulture 
Vegetable crops 
Asparagus 
Beet 
Brussels sprouts 
Cauliflower 
Eggplant 
Onion 
Spinach 
Sweet potato 
Tomato 
Fruit and nut trees 
Almond 
Apple 
Banana 
Coffee 
Date 
Grapefruit 
Lemon 
Olive 
Orange 
Peach 
Fruit and berries 
Blackberry 
Grape 
Pineapple 
Strawberry 
Foliage 
Silver vase 
Begonia 
Cryptanthus 
Dieffenbachia 
Dracaena 
Fiddleleaf 
Pointsettia 
Weeping fig 
Rubber plant 
Flowers 
African violet 
Anthruium 
Chrysanthemum 
Gerbera daisy 
Gloxinia 
Petunia 
Rose 
Orchid 
Ferns 
Australian tree fern 
Boston fern 
Maidenhair fern 
Rabbitsfoot fern 
Staghorn fern 
Sword fern 
Bulbs 
Lily 
Daylily 
Easter lily 
Hyacinth 
Pharmaceutical 
Atropa 
Ginseng 
Pyrethium 
Silviculture (forestry) 
Douglas fir 
Pine 
Ouaking aspen 
Redwood 
Rubber tree 
SOURCE: Office of Technology Assessment. 
Photo credit: U.S. Department ol Agricutiure 
Seed samples being withdrawn from a tank of liquid 
nitrogen where they had been stored at - 190° C for 
6 months. In addition to testing these seeds for retained 
germination potential, some will be grown into fully mature 
plants to determine if any genetic changes occurred 
during storage 
Table 26.— Representative List of Tissue Culture Programs of Commercial Significance in the United States 
Industry 
Application 
Economic benefits 
Asparagus industry Rapid multiplication of seed stock Improved productivity, earliness, and spear quality 
Chemical and pharmaceutical . Biosynthesis of chemicals 
Propagation of medicinal plants 
Citrus industry Virus elimination 
Coffee industry Disease resistance breeding 
Land reclamation Mass propagation 
Ornamental horticulture Mass propagation 
Pineapple industry Mass propagation 
Strawberry industry Mass propagation 
Reduced production costs 
High volumes of plants for planting 
Improved quality, high productivity 
Disease resistance 
Availability of select clones of wild species for revegetation 
Reduced costs of certain species 
Virus elimination of certain species 
Introduction of new selections 
Increased volumes of difficult selections 
Improved quality in higher volumes 
Rapid introduction of new strains 
SOURCE: Office of Technology Assessment. 
