Multiplication of floral plants enforces costs which can’t be reduced (nursery managment , hand working …) and make them less competitive in relationship with other producing relocated companies . More and more producing companies are looking for supplying with products at lower costs. In those high competitive conditions the profit margin is always smaller. The industry of tissues plants culture has got an important development in Europe in the eighties. The most important private companies are linked to laboratory works looking for application on a large scale of the forward technology in mass propagation. If all the modern technologies that have been created at the end of the seventies or in the eighties, looked revolutionary and full of promise, they finally only innovate in the miniaturization of plants material. The accelerated and mass propagation based on the use of pieces of plants often limited to the apical of young growing shoots. This change of scale brings many and important new applications: - Production of unlimited quantities of high-performance individuals. - Multiplication of recalcitrant in-vitro species. - The capacity of cleansing definitely, by culture of meristems, plants completely invaded by pathogenic micro-organisms, virus included. - The conservation of genetic resources and of course the facility of exchange of healthy plants with other countries. - The possibility to maintain in vitro genotypes of endangered species. The micropropagation technique can’t be considered as an end in itself. The use of such process is expensive .It must be envisaged in a global strategy including all improvement techniques. Within this context, biotechnology is showing much promise.
Objectives
To finalize fast industrial multiplication techniques at low costs for different species, a new in vitro propagation “modelization” concept is developed in the laboratory. The “modelization” concept is built on different cultural parameters integration to establish new process of high quality plants production with competitive costs. The researched advantages are high proliferation rate, suppression of certain stages, less handling, long term storage...
Expected results
Under collaboration agreement with different private or public partners, modelization has been tested on different species. An other type of plant material can be put to horticulturist’s disposal. This plant material can reply to their expectations: Miniaturisation of mother plants and high production of cuttings . The horticulturists we are working with, give us information back, which can contribute to the evolution of the protocols. Species mainly used : Pelargonium, Cyclamen … And varied other species of ornamental plants : Verbena, Primula, Vinca, Calibrachoa, Dianthus, Lisianthus, Lysimachia, Plectranthus, Sanvitalia, Scaevola,...
Results obtained
By using protocols and environmental conditions totally different from one’s usually used, we could bring interesting solutions to the in vitro multiplication of difficult species to reproduce, presenting bad rotting, high production cost, alterations such as vitrification. The potential of such concept has been checked on different species For example, Pelargonium and cyclamen have been tested for several years. The figure above shows the evolution capacity of production during 4 months
Partners
- Maurice JAY, University of Lyon, - Horticulture company: « S A Le Temps des Fleurs », M. P. Ducarre. - Horticulture company : « S A R. Lannes ». - Horticulture company : « EARL Les Jeunes Plants de l’Ochsenfeld », M. G. Bruchlen. - Horticulture company « S A Rudy Raes Bloemzaden N V », M R. Raes. - Horticulture company : « Roseraie Gravereaux », Conseil général du département de Val de Marne / France. - Horticulture company : « Les serres De Timborne », M. D. Detavernier. - Society : « Glorier Seeds », M. Sébaly. - CRA-W, M. P. Druart, M. A. Bultreys, M. P. Geerts.
