Photo by V. Miller
March 2, 2005
Plant Tissue Culture
How Can You Propagate Stevia by Using the Method of Tissue Culture?
Shireen Dhir, 13, Kathleen, Ga.
Finalist, Discovery Channel Young Scientist Challenge, 2004
Project background: Shireen's grandmother had diabetes, which kept her from enjoying sweets. Shireen wanted to explore the potential of Stevia, a shrub native to Paraguay that contains a natural, diabetic-safe sweetener, as a dietary supplement. She discovered that large-scale production is tedious because Stevia seeds are slow to germinate.
Tactics and results: Shireen took samples of shoot tips, nodes, roots, and leaves from mature plants. She placed the samples in synthetic plant culture media and added differing concentrations of the cytokinins BAP and TDZ, which are known to promote tissue growth. She grew the cultures for 4 weeks, then counted the number of new growths in each culture.
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| Photo by V. Miller |
Shoot tips produced the largest number of new growths (shoots), ranging from 10 to 15 per sample. Shireen ultimately grew 75 plants in 14 weeks—all offshoots of one mature Stevia plant.
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