inkcube

i started in TC, i like to tell visitors that a certain plant came from a single cell swirling around on an agitator or from a plate of callus. in the orchid world TC allows us to own plants that would otherwise cost a fortune, in fact the only way orchid seed is germinated now is on a sterile plate. with carnivorous plants TC helps prevent over collecting of wild and endangered species. it was mentioned above that researchers & governments are collecting germplasm, this helps preserve species and superior germ lines.

plus in the word of seedless bananas TC is the best hope sometimes for developing superior disease resistance, i can think of 2 cultivars being grown in plantations that came out of TC that were resistant to race 3 and race 4 of fusarium wilt. throughout my career i have seen many plantations where all the plants are TC plants, they can produce replacement plants faster that they can with seeds and there is more uniformity with the crop.

i would guess out of the thousand or so orchids in my collection 99% are TC, i know all of my CP's are (i did them myself), and probably 50% of my bananas are. the ones in a current research trial i am conducting are all TC, they must be completely uniform clones to rule out variability.

the way i see things, on both commercial and research level, TC is a must in order to maintain the best traits and to develop a uniform crop. but as the Buddha said before he died. "i could be wrong".