Plant Tissue Culture & Cloning
Plant tissue culture is a collection of techniques used to maintain or grow plant cells, tissues or organs under sterile conditions on a nutrient culture medium of known composition. Plant tissue culture can be used to produce unlimited clones of a plant in short time in any season. These techniques are particular invaluable in situations such as absence of seeds, pollinators and infection of the plant. Transgenic plant (GMO), though still contraversial in broad uses, is an effective technique to select plants and cultivars with desired traits for agriculture, horticulture and biotech applications.
- MS is a good start, but culture media depends a lot on the plants you’re working on; check literature for previous work.
- MS medium is quite good for induction of non-organized growth (callus), but may prevent plant organogenesis. Half strength of MS (MS/2), B5 medium (Gamborg) and Half B5 (B5/2) may be the other better alternatives to reduce plant vitrification/hyperhydricity
- Microbial contamination is still the top issue in plant tissue culture for both amateur and professional. Pre-treatment plant tissue with diluted bleach, use of indoor germinated new tissues, standardized autoclave (or kitchen pressure cooker based). sterilization filtration (<0.25um desired) are among the commonly used methods for aseptic techniques.
- Decrease of sucrose concentration and increase of CO2 supply may reduce fungal/microbial contamination. Consider co-culture of plant tissue with its naturally associated microorganisms if stubborn contamination occurs. (check our contamination inhibitor, SHY, natural plant extract, one of the best, in our opinions).
Plant Hormone and Regulator Solution Preparations
The tables below are derived from Sigma website, summarizing the commonly used concentration in plant tissue cloning and compatibility with sterilization methods.
- 1 ml anti-contamination reagent, 400x concentration (treat up to 400 ml
culture mediium or nutrient gel)
- (35g, to make 1000 ml) MURASHIGE SKOOG (MS) Medium with Sucrose, Vitamines, BA, NAA & Agar
- 1000 ml nutrient gel, MS medium powder with sucrose & agar, hormones of BA
and NAA packed separately
- 3000 ml liquid medium (not gel, no agar), MS medium powder, sucrose and
hormones of BA and NAA packed separately, no agar included
- 3000 ml liquid medium (not gel, no agar), Gamborg Medium (B5) powder, sucrose
and hormones of BA and NAA packed separately, no agar
- Orchid Multiplication & Maintenance Medium for Stem & Tissue Propagation
Cress: Watercress, Garden Cress and Land Cress
Cress greens are genetically related Brassicaceae family plants. The most cultivated and consumed for their edible leaves are Land Cress (Barbarea verna, biennial), Garden cress (Lepidium sativum, leafy) and Watercress (Nasturtium officinale, perennial)
Cress greens (from old Germanic cresso which means sharp, spicy) are rather fast-growing, edible herbs, sharing their peppery, tangy flavor and aroma. Cress is added to soups, sandwiches and salads for its tangy flavor.
Cress greens are very nutritious and may have preventive values against cancer, cardiovascular diseases and other metabolic disorders.
CRESS leafy vegetable seeds on eBay:
- Combo 35,000 Seeds of Watercress, GardenCress, LandCress
- Combo 70,000 Seeds of Watercress, GardenCress, LandCress
- 5,000 Seeds of True Watercress, Nasturtium officinale
- 10,000 Seeds of True Watercress, Nasturtium officinale
- 1 oz (28.4 g, 118,000 seeds) True Watercress Seed, Nasturtium officinale
- 10,000 Seeds of Upland Cress, Barbarea verna
- 20,000 Seeds of Upland Cress, Barbarea verna
- 7 oz (198 g, 141,000 seeds) Seeds of Upland Cress, Barbarea verna
- 20,000 Seeds of Curled Garden Cress, Lepidium sativum
- 40,000 Seeds of Garden Cress, Lepidium sativum
- 12 oz (340 g, 141,000 seeds) Seeds of Garden Cress, Lepidium sativum
About Mushrooms – The Amazing Food & Healing Resources
Have you ever wondered what are the most expensive and cheapest foods you can make in kitchens? It’s mushroom! Mushrooms such as cordyceps, truffle and morel are almost as expensive as gold while oyster mushrooms are one of the major protein sources for low-income people in the developing countries and for people during the hard time. Humans are not the only animals who grow mushrooms. Termites and ants cultivate mushroom for food and other uses.
Mushroom is a fungal growth that usually takes the form of a domed cap on a stalk, often with gills on the underside of the cap, typically produced above ground on soil or on its food source. You can see more dazzling shapes and colors of mushrooms in website TaylorLockwood.com.
Many wild-mushrooms are symbiotic mycorrhizae fungi associated with the roots of most plant species, commonly divided into ectomycorrhizae and endomycorrhizae. Tree and plants provide the fungi with relatively constant and direct access to carbohydrates, in return, the plant gains the benefits of the mycelium higher absorptive capacity for water and mineral nutrients. Without these mushrooms, there will be no forest and (maybe) animals on earth.
White button mushroom is commonly sold in US supermarket. About 20% of US population regularly consumes mushrooms; among them, 90% only eat white button or related mushrooms. There are somewhere 40 types of mushroom that are edible. Certainly, they taste different from the few ones in the supermarket. In addition to food uses, mushrooms have been historically used as medicinal remedies. A lot of current prescribed drugs were initially discovered from mushrooms and fungi, e.g. immunosuppressive drug cyclosporin, anti-cancer drug Taxol, and more… Mushroom Ganoderma lucidum (Reishi/Lingzhi) has been used for hundred years to cure swelling diseases (tumors) and it contains variety of chemical compounds called Triterpenoids; one of the synthetic triterpenoid, CDDO, has been on clinical trial (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT00322140). Mushrooms have magic healing power but “magic mushrooms (psilocybin/psychedelic mushrooms)” are classified as controlled substance in most US towns.
Free download articles and books (no commercial uses, PLR applied)
- Mushroom cultivation: Series-1 & Series-2
- Historical books on mushroom and mushroom cooking (book list and downloadable)
- Mushroom photos
- 20 oz (550 g) Morel Mushroom Soil Spawn, mycelium colonized nutrient soil
- Live Mycelium Petri Dish (10cm), Yellow/Blonde Morel Mushroom
- Live Mycelium Petri Dish (10cm), Grey Morel Mushroom
- Ectomycorrhiza Pisolithus tinctorius, Mycelium Petri Dish, Live Cell Mycelium
- 0.5g Mushroom Spores (seeds), Ectomycorrhiza Pisolithus tinctorius, Live Spores
- Cordyceps Mushroom Live Cell Mycelium Petri Dish (60mm)
- Dehydrate Powder of Malt Extract + Peptone, to make 2 liters (1/2 gallon) medium
- 5 LBS (2.2 Kg) Pellertized Gypsium, Mushroom Cultivation and Soil Repair, CaSO4
- 10 grams Blue Oyster Mushroom Spawn, Pure Mycelium Colonized Grains
- 10 grams Cordyceps mushroom spawn (pure & live, not dried)
- 15 g Mushroom Spawn, Wine Cap, Stropharia rugosa (pure & live, not dried)
- 3.5 oz (100 grams) King Oyster Mushroom Spawn, pure mycelium colonized substrate
- 10 ml Mushroom Liquid Inoculants/Seeds, King Stropharia (Wine Cap)
- 10,000 Live Almond Mushroom Spores (not spawn, dry mushroom powder or mycelium)
- 10 grams Shiitake Mushroom Spawn, pure mycelium colonized grains/wood dust
- Portabella (Portobello) Mushroom Spore Print, single whole mushroom spore print
Red Yeast and Red Yeast Rice
Red Yeast Rice is produced by rice fermentation using the edible fungus of Monascus purpureus or related bio-engineered strains.
The most popular application of Red Yeast Rice in traditional Asian cuisines is its red biopigments as food colorants and substitutes for nitrites in meat products (such as in sausage). The red biopigments have also been proposed recently as substitutes for synthetic food colors such as erythrosine (partial ban in USA by FDA) and Allura Red AC (ban in most EU).
The cholesterol lowering property is probably the reason that makes it popular in recent years. Red Yeast Rice has the therapeutic property of lowering blood cholesterol and the history could be traced back several hundred years ago. It was first recorded in Chinese medicinal text The Magical Qu and Compendium of Materia Medica (years 1300-1400s), stated that “red yeast brewing wine, invigorate the circulation of blood and have a drug potential.”
In the 1970s, scientists (Japan) reported the metabolite Monacolin-K from Red Yeast Rice reduced serum cholesterol level and the mechanistic actions of Monacolin-K and other compounds in lowering cholesterol were further investigated by US scientists (two of them won the Nobel Prize). Later, Merck & Co patented Lovastatin (prescription brand Mevacor). Structurally, Lovastatin and Monocolin K are identical in chemistry. Several pharmaceutical giants followed suits and now we have about an annual $29 billion statin drug market, while Red Yeast Rice is a non-FDA regulated dietary supplement. Red Yeast Rice is a traditional food in geo-regions and sold as food materials and dietary supplement in many countries including in the U.S.
From the point of view of preventive uses, Red Yeast Rice should be better than statin drugs. The reasons are obvious. Red Yeast Rice has hundred years of practical applications (reliable than any clinical trials), less side-effects as long as manufacturing is correctly controlled. Red Yeast Rice contains numbers of statin derivatives (instead of a single one in the prescription) and multiple other beneficial ingredients. If you have used Red Yeast Rice before, you know the chance of overdose is almost zero. Even Merck’s prescription stain Lovastatin (Mevacor), probably the best brand on the market, is associated with various adverse effects such as myopathy, headache, dizziness, rash, upset stomach and hepatic dysfunction, because the statin drugs target an important enzyme that not only control body cholesterol synthesis but also many other important biochemical pathways.
Red Yeast Rice and Statin have some side effects in common, but in different percentage: in clinical trials with Statin, the reports of myalgia vary from less than 1% to 25% of patients, whereas in clinical trials with Red Yeast Rice the incidence of withdrawal from medication owing to myalgia was 5%. Currently, no consensus has been reached regarding the management of hyperlipidemia in patients who develop statin-associated myalgia (SAM). Many statin-intolerant patients use alternative lipid-lowering therapies, including red yeast rice, instead of none therapy.
The products of red-yeast-rice are available from different suppliers on the market. The quality of any products is related to the taste, therapeutic effect, consistency and free contamination of unwanted pathogens, heavy metals and mycotoxin citrinin. Because of these, it’s highly advised to make your own Red Yeast Rice or purchase from a reliable manufacturer.
Although there are strong opinions and scientific evidences doubting the direct correlation between lowering blood cholesterol and reduction of atherosclerosis/heart attack/stroke (if interested, read the book “The $29 billion lie about cholesterol”), preventive uses of statin drugs have been advocated by ACC/AHA and industry lobbyists.
Effective Microorganisms (EM)
EM (Effective Microorganisms) is a group of symbiotic (persistent biological mutualisms and interactions) microbia consisting of over 80 species of bacteria, yeast, fungi, actinomycetes, and other beneficial microorganisms. Each of these microorganisms has unique metabolism system to utilize environmental materials. For example, the lactic acid bacteria, capable of degrading proteins into amino acids and producing lactic acid from carbohydrates, generate nutrients for other EM microorganisms and at same time inhibit the propagation of harmful bacteria in the environment; yeast can decompose starch and wood materials; other fungi can secrete a variety of useful biologically active enzymes to digest surrounding waste; actinomycetes can directly utilize light and heat to decompose organic materials and produce carbohydrates for other EM microbia.
Since invented in 1980s, EM technology has been applied by many countries in areas of agriculture, animal husbandry, food processing, environmental protection, novel medical therapeutics, etc. EM applications have achieved stunning good results. Here is a list of the uses:
- Promotion of soil agricultural value, healthy crop growth and crop maturation
- Improvement of water quality for aquatic animal farming
Production of organic fertilizer from household/field waste and agricultural by-products
- Management of health facility waste and industry pollution
- Cost-effective bio-control of bad odors from waste, contamination and animal farming
- Biotech industrial uses
- 45 ml EM (Effective Microorganism) Inoculants /Starter, to inoculate 30 gallons
- 10 ml EM (Effective Microorganism) Inoculants /Starter, to inoculate 7 gallons
Video of EM uses as quail bedding deodorant and antibiotics feed substitutes:
LILY OF THE VALLEY
Youtube Video: Grow LILY OF THE VALLEY Outdoors
Grow LILY OF THE VALLEY in Containers
Scientific name: Convallaria majalis
Kingdom: Plantae | Clade: Angiosperms | Clade: Monocots
Order: Asparagales | Family: Asparagaceae | Subfamily: Nolinoideae
Genus: Convallaria | Species: C. majalis | Zone: 3 to 8
Height: 0.50 to 1.00 feet | Spread: 0.75 to 1.00 feet
Bloom Time: April-July | Bloom Description: White
Fruit: Bright to siren red (July-October)
Sun: Part shade to full shade
Soil: prefer organic rich
Growing: Fast spreading by rhizomes/roots, low maintenance needs
Suggested Use: Ground Cover, Naturalize
Flower: Showy, Fragrant, Good Cut
Tolerate: Rabbit, Deer, Heavy Shade, Erosion, Clay Soil
LILY OF THE VALLEY is one of the most fragrant woodland plants, increasingly used in garden and indoor decoration. From late spring, it has bell-shaped, white flowers hang in arching racemes above dark green paired leaves.
LILY OF THE VALLEY is a symbol of purity and innocence. LILY OF THE VALLEY is usually a sign that everything in life is clean and pleasant. Fragrant flowers are considered a symbol of virginity and purity. LILY OF THE VALLEY has been used in weddings & bridal bouquets, although it can be very expensive.
LILY OF THE VALLEY, sometimes written lily-of-the-valley, scientific name Convallaria majalis, is a sweetly scented, highly poisonous woodland flowering plant that is native throughout the cool temperate Northern Hemisphere in Asia, and Europe. It has many medical uses currently.
LILY OF THE VALLEY leaves, stems or whole plant extract, and alcohol extract of the whole plant have Jie digitalis-like effect on the cold-blooded and warm-blooded animals and can enhance myocardial contractility, more significant for heart failure myocytes. LILY OF THE VALLEY poison glycosides cardiac effects, the strongest known cardiac glycosides, are similar to Strophanthin.
- The impact of extensive clonal growth on fine-scale mating patterns: a full paternity analysis of a lily-of-the-valley population (Convallaria majalis) Annals of Botany 111: 623–628, 2013
- Digitalis Intoxication Induced by an Acute Accidental Poisoning by Lily of the Valley, Circulation February 28, 2012
- Extremely low genotypic diversity and sexual reproduction in isolated populations of the self-incompatible lily-of-the-valley (Convallaria majalis) and the role of the local forest environment Annals of Botany 105: 769–776, 2010
- Lily Toxicity in the Cat Topics in Companion Animal Medicine December 2015, Volume 30, Issue 4