Callus (cell biology)

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Callus (cell biology)

In biological research and biotechnology, a callus of cells is a mass of undifferentiated cells. In plant biology, callus cells are those cells that cover a plant wound.

llus cell culture is usually sustained on gel media, much in the same manner as bacteria are grown. Sufficient media consists of agar and the usual mix of macronutrients and micronutrient

Micronutrient

Micronutrients are nutrients needed for life in small quantities. The Microminerals or trace elements include at least iron, cobalt, chromium, copper, iodine, manganese, selenium, zinc and molybdenum....
s for the given cell type.

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Encyclopedia

In biological research and biotechnology, a callus of cells is a mass of undifferentiated cells. In plant biology, callus cells are those cells that cover a plant wound.

Design

A callus cell culture is usually sustained on gel media, much in the same manner as bacteria are grown. Sufficient media consists of agar and the usual mix of macronutrients and micronutrient

Micronutrient

Nitrogen

Nitrogen is a chemical element that has the symbol N and atomic number 7 and atomic mass 14.00674?. Elemental nitrogen is a colorless, odorless, tasteless and mostly inert diatomic gas at standard conditions, constituting 78% by volume of Earth's atmosphere....
, phosphorus

Phosphorus

Phosphorus is the chemical element that has the symbol P and atomic number 15. The name comes from the and . A Valency nonmetal of the nitrogen group, phosphorus is commonly found in inorganic phosphate minerals....
, and potassium

Potassium

Potassium is a chemical element. It has the symbol K , atomic number 19, and atomic mass 39.0983. Potassium was first isolated from potash, hence the name....
is especially important. Water is provided as a constituent part of the gel media. Ex. sandalwood callus

Uses

A plant cell callus consists of somatic

Somatic

The term somatic refers to cells of the body, rather than gametes . In humans, somatic cells contain two copies of each chromosome , whereas eggs and sperm only contain one copy of each chromosome ....
undifferentiated cells from an adult subject plant.

A callus is not necessarily genetically homogeneous because a callus is often made from structural tissue, not individual cells. Nevertheless, callus cells are often considered similar enough for standard scientific analysis to be performed as if on a single subject. For example, an experiment may have half a callus undergo a treatment as the experimental group, while the other half undergoes a similar but non-active treatment as the control group.

Plant cell calluses may be made to differentiate into the specialized tissues of a whole plant, with the addition of a number of hormones or enzymes. This is an ability known as totipotency

Totipotency

Totipotency is the ability of a single cell to divide and produce all the differentiated cells in an organism, including extraembryonic tissues....
.

A callus is often the target of a gene gun

Gene gun

The gene gun or the Biolistic Particle Delivery System, originally designed for plant transformation , is a device for injecting cells with genetics information....
for specific DNA insertion experiments.

Callus tissue is of particular use in micropropagation where it can be used to grow genetically identical copies of plants with desirable characteristics.