Automation and environmental control in plant tissue culture

• Automation.- 1. Automation in plant tissue culture. General introduction and overview.- 2. Economic analysis of automated micropropagation.- 3. Economic aspects of somatic embryogenesis.- 4. Systems analysis and engineering.- 5. Engineering aspects of plant propagation in bioreactors.- 6. Mechanical engineering approaches to plant biotechnology.- 7. Image analysis for plant cell culture and micropropagation.- 8. Image analysis for embryogenesis.- 9. Automation of the bioreactor process for mass propagation and secondary metabolism.- 10. Delivery systems for tissue culture by encapsulation.- 11. A delivery system for naked somatic embryos of interior spruce.- 12. Automated systems for organogenesis.- 13. Commercialisation of tissue culture and automated systems.- Environmental control.- 14. Environmental control in plant tissue culture. General introduction and overview.- 15. Physical microenvironment and its effects.- 16. Vessels, gels, liquid media, and support systems.- 17. The chemical microenvironment.- 18. Carbon nutrition in vitro. Regulation and manipulation of carbon assimilation in micropropagated systems.- 19. Ethylene.- 20. In vitro acclimatization.- 21. Low temperature storage of plant tissue cultures.- 22. Environmental measurement and control systems.

' .. I therefore recommend this book for researchers and propagators actively involved in plant tissue culture. Discussions are thorough and references are abundant and current. Similarly, figures are plentiful and help broaden one's mental conceptualization of plant tissue culture. I would make an even greater point of sharing this volume with peers who may think that plant tissue culture has achieved an adequate stage of maturity to routinely serve applications in research science.' Plant Tissue Culture and Biotechnology, 1:3, 1995