Historical Milestones in Plant Tissue Culture

A Historical Account of Milestones in the Field of Plant Tissue and Cell Culture (Adapted from: White, 1963; Pierik, 1987; Brar and Khush, 1994; Endress, 1994; taken from http://www.kitchenculturekit.com/historyTC.htm ).

Year	Important Discoveries And Their References
1838 & 1839	Cell theory, suggesting totipotentiality of cells. Schleiden M. J., Arch. Anat., Physiol. U. wiss. Med. (J. Muller), 1838: 137-176; Schwann T., W. Engelman, No. 176 (1910).
1882	Plants synthesize organ-forming substances that are polarly distributed. Sachs J., Arch. Bot. Inst. Wurzburg, 2: 453 & 689. A
1902	First but unsuccessful attempt of tissue culture using monocots. Haberlandt G., Sitzungsber Akad. Wiss. Wien, Math.-Naturwiss. Kl., 111: 69-92.
1904	First attempt in embryo culture of selected Crucifers. Hannig B., Bot. Zeitung, 62: 45-80.
1909	Fusion of plant protoplasts though the products failed to survive. Kuster E., Ber. Dtsch. Bot. Ges., 27: 589-598.
1921	Cultivation of fragments of plant embryos. Molliard M., C. R. Soc. Biol. (Paris), 84: 770-772.
1922	Asymbiotic germination of orchid seeds. Knudson L., Bot. Gaz., 73: 1-25.
	In vitro culture of root tips. Robbins W. J., Bot. Gaz., 73: 376-390.
1924	Callus formation on carrot root explants by use of lactic acid. Blumenthal F. and Meyer P. Z. Krebsforsch. 21: 250-252.
1925	Embryo culture for interspecific crosses in Linum spp. Laibach F., Z. Bot., 17: 417-459.
	Symbiotic germination of orchid seeds. Knudson L., Bot. Gaz., 29: 345-379.
1929	Embryo culture to avoid cross incompatibility in Linum spp. Laibach F., J Hered., 20: 201-208.
1934	In vitro culture of cambial tissues of different trees and shrubs failed. Guatheret R. J., C. R. Acad. Sci. (Paris), 198: 2195-2196.
	Successful long-term culture of tomato roots. White P. R., Plant Physiol., 9: 585-600.
	Identification of the first plant hormone, IAA, leading to cell enlargement. Kogl F. et al., Z. Physiol. Chem., 228: 90-103.
1936	Embryo culture of different gymnosperms. LaRue C. R., Bull. Torrey Bot. Club, 63: 365-382
1939	Successful continuously growing cambial cultures of carrot and tobacco. Gautheret R. J., C. R. Acad. Sci. (Paris), 208: 118-120; Nobecourt P., C. R. Soc. Biol. (Paris), 130: 1270-1271; White P. R., Am. J. Bot., 26: 59-64.
1940	Culture of cambial tissue of Ulmus to study adventitious shoot formation. Gautheret R. J., C. R. Acad. Sci., 210: 632-634.
1941	Coconut Milk used for growth and development of very young Datura embryos. Overbeek J. van et al., Science, 94: 350-351.
1942	Observation of secondary metabolites in plant callus cultures. Gautheret R. J. Bull. Soc. Chim. Biol. 41: 13.
1943-1950	Tumor-inducing principle of crown gall tumors identified. Braun A. C. Phytopathol. 33: 85-100 & P. N. A. S. USA 45: 932-938.
1944	First In vitro culture of tobacco used to study adventitious shoot formation. Skoog F., Am. J. Bot., 31: 19-24.
1945	Cultivation of excised stem tips of Asparagus. Loo S. W., Am. J. Bot., 32: 13-17.
1946	First whole plants of Lupinus and Tropaeolum from shoot tips. Ball E., Am. J. Bot., 33: 301-318.
1948	Formation of adventitious shoots and roots in tobacco. Skoog F. and Tsui C., Am. J. Bot., 355: 782-787.
1949	Culture of fruits In vitro. Nitsch J. P., Science, 110: 499.
1950	Organs regenerated from callus of Sequoia. Ball E., Growth, 14: 295-325.
	First successful cultures of Monocots using coconut milk. Morel G. C. R. Acad. Sci., 230: 2318-2320.
1951	Culture of excised ovaries In vitro. Nitsch J. P., Am. J. Bot., 38: 566-577.
	Chemical control of growth and organ formation in culture demonstrated. Skoog F., Annee Biol., 26: 545-562.
1952	Virus-free Dahlia through meristem culture. Morel G. and Martin C., C. R. Hebd. Seances Acad. Sci. (Paris), 235: 1324-1325.
	First successful micro-grafts. Morel G. and Martin C., C. R. Acad. Sci. (Paris), 235: 1324-1325.
1953	Haploid callus from pollen grain of Ginkgo biloba. Tulecke W. R.., Science, 117: 599-600.
1954	First calli produced from a single cell by use of nurse cultures. Muir W. H. et al., Science, 119: 877-878.
1955	Discovery, structure and synthesis of Kinetin. Miller C. et al., J. Am. Chem. Soc., 77: 1392 & 2662-2663.
1956	In vitro cultivation of normal and tumor tissues of Picea glauca. Reinert J. and White P. R., Physiol. Plant., 9: 177-189.
1956	US patent NO. 2747334 for: Production of substances from plant tissue culture of Phaseolus by Routien J. B. and Nickell L. G.
1957	Discovery that root or shoot formation in culture depends on auxin : cytokinin ratio. Skoog F. and Miller C. O., In vitro Symp. Soc. Exp. Biol., No. 11: 118-131.
	Culture of excised anthers of Allium cepa. Vasil I. K., Phytomorph., 7: 138-149.
1958	In vitro culture of excised ovules of Papaver somniferum. Maheshwari N., Science, 127: 342.
	Regeneration of somatic embryos from nucellus of Citrus ovules. Maheshwari P. and Rangaswamy N. S., Ind. J. Hort., 15: 275-281.
	Pro-embryo formation in callus clumps and cell suspension of carrot. Reinert J. and Steward F. C., Naturwiss., 45: 344-345.
	Growth and development in suspension cultures. Steward F. C. et al., Am. J. Bot., 45: 693-708.
1959	Production of large amounts (134 L) of plant tissue by submerged culture. Tulecke W. and Nickell L. G., Science, 130: 863-864.
1960	First test tube fertilization in Papaver rhoeas. Kanta K., Nature, 188: 683-684.
	Enzymatic degradation of cell wall for protoplast formation. Cocking E. C., Nature, 187: 927-929.
	Vegetative propagation of orchids by meristem culture. Morel G., Am. Orchid Soc. Bull., 29: 495-497.
1962	Development of MS medium. Murashige T. and Skoog F., Physiol. Plant., 15: 473-497.
	In vitro flower induction in tobacco Aghion D., C. R. Acad. Sci., 255: 993-995.
1964	First haploid plants from Datura androgenesis. Guha S. and Maheshwari S. C., Nature, 204: 497 and Nature, 212: 97-98 (1966).
	Regeneration of roots and shoots on callus of Populus tremuloides. Mathes M. C., Phyton, 21: 137-141.
1965	Differentiation of tobacco plants from a single isolated cell in microculture. Vasil V. and Hildebrandt A. C., Science, 146: 76-77 & 150: 889-892.
	Protocorm formation in orchids In vitro. Morel G., Cymbidium Soc. News, 20: 3
1967	Flower induction in Lunaria annua by vernalization In vitro. Pierik R. L. M., See Pierik R. L. M., (1987) In vitroCulture of Higher Plants. Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, Dordrecht.
1967	Yields of secondary products in cell culture equal to those of intact plants of Ammi visnaga. Kaul B. and Staba E. J., Planta Med., 15: 145-156.
	Haploid plants from pollen grains of tobacco. Bourgin J. P. and Nitsch J. P., Ann. Physiol. Veg., 9: 377-382 & 10: 69-81.
1969	Protoplast isolation from suspension culture of Hapopappus gracilis. Ericksson T. and Jonassen K., Planta, 89: 85-89
1970	Selection of biochemical mutants in tobacco. Carlson P. S., Science, 168: 487-489.
	Hybrid embryo culture and subsequent chromosome elimination for haploid production in Barley. Kasha K. J. and Kao K. N., Nature, 225: 874-875
	Protoplast fusion. Power J. B. et al., Nature, 225: 1016-1018.
1971	Plant regeneration from mesophyll protoplasts of tobacco. Takebe I. Et al., Naturewiss., 58: 318-320.
1972	Interspecific hybridization of Nicotiana spp. using protoplasts. Carlson P. S. et al., P. N. A. S. (USA), 69: 2292-2294.
1973	Cytokinins found to be capable of breaking dormancy in Gerberas. Pierik R. L. M. et al., Sci. Hort., 1: 117-119.
1974	Induction of branching by cytokinins in Gerbera shoot tips Murashige F. et al., Hortsci., 9: 175-180.
	Regeneration of haploid Petunia plants from protoplasts Binding R. J., Z. Pflanzenphysiol., 101: 119-130.
	Fusion of haploid protoplasts to form polyploids. Melchers G. and Lalib G., Mol. Gen. Genet. 135: 277-294.
	Bio-transformation in PTC Reinhard E., In: Tissue culture and Plant science, Street H. E. (ed.), Acad Press NY,: 433-459.
	Ti plasmid as the tumor inducing principle in crown gall. Zaenen I. Et al., J. Molec. Biol., 86: 109-127; Larebeke N. van et al., Nature, 252: 169-170.
1975	Positive selection of maize callus culture resistant to Helminthosporium maydis. Gengenbach B. G. and Green C. E., Crop Sci., 15: 645-649
1976	Shoot induction from cryo-preserved shoot tips of carnation. Seibert M., Science, 191: 1178-1179.
	Protoplast fusion of Petunia hybrida with P. parodii. Power J. B. et al., Nature, 263: 500-502.
	Octopine and Nopaline synthesis and break-down is regulated by Ti plasmid. Bomhoff G. et al., Molec. Gen. Genet., 145: 177-178.
1977	Successful integration of T-DNA in plants. Chilton M. D. et al., Cell, 11: 263-271.
	Cultivation of tobacco cells in 20,000 L bioreactors. Noguchi M. et al., Plant Tissue Culture & its Biotechnological Application, Springer Verlag, Berlin,: 85-94.
	Development of two-stage culture medium for suspension cell cultures. Zenk M. H. et al., Plant Tissue Culture & its Biotechnological Application. Springer Verlag, Berlin,: 27-43.
1978	Somatic hybridization of tomato and potato. Melchers G. et al., Carlsburg Res. Comm., 43: 203-218.
	Industrial scale fermentation of plant cells for production of shikonin. (Selection of cell lines with higher yield of secondary products). Tabata M. et al., Frontiers of Plant Tissue Culture 1978, Univ. Calgary Press, Calgary,: 213-222.
1979	Alginate beads used for plant cell immobilization for biotransformation and secondary metabolite production.Brodelius P. et al., FEBS Lett., 103: 93-97.
	Co-cultivation procedure developed for the Agrobacterium mediated transformation of protoplasts. Marton L. et al., Nature, 277: 129-131
1980	The use of immobilized cells for bio-transformation of digitoxin intro digoxin. Alfermann A. W. et al., Planta Medica, 40: 218.
1981	Introduction of the term somaclonal variaion. Larkin P. J. and Scowcroft W. R., Theor. Appl. Gen., 60: 197-214.
	Isolation of auxotrophs by cell colony screening in haploid protolasts of Nicotiana plumbaginifolia treated with mutagens. Sidorov V. et al., Nature, 294: 87-88.
	Use of a hollow fiber reactor for secondary metabolite production. Shuler M. L., Ann. NY Acad. Sci., 369: 65-79.
1982	Naked DNA transformation of protoplasts. Krens F. A. et al., Nature, 296: 72-74.
	Electrofusion of protoplasts Zimmermann U., Biochim. Biophys. Acta, 694: 227-277.
1983	Intergeneric cybrid in radish and rape. Pelletier G. et al., Molec. Gen. Genet., 191:244-250.
	First industrial production of secondary metabolites by suspension cultures of Lithospermum spp. by Mitsui Petrochemicals.
	Beneficial use of elicitors in cell suspension cultures. Wolters B. and Eilert U. Dtsch. Apoth. Zeitg., 123: 659-667.
1983	Co-integrate type of vectors designed for Agrobacterium transformation. Zambryski P. et al., EMBO J., 2: 2143-2150.
1984	Transformation of Nicotiana protoplasts with plasmid DNA and regeneration of transformed plants.Paszkowski J. et al., EMBO J., 3: 2717-2722.
1985	Infection and transformation of leaf discs with Agrobacterium tumefaciens and regeneration of transformed plants. Horsch R. B. et al., Science, 227: 1229-1231.
	Development of disarmed Ti plasmid vector system for plant transformation. Fraley R. T. et al., Bio/Technol., 3: 629-635.
	Development of binary vector system for plant transformation. An G. et al., EMBO J., 4: 277-284.
	Gene transfer in protoplasts of Dicot and Monocot plants by electroporation. Fromm M. E., P. N. A. S. (USA), 82: 5824-5828.
	Hairy root production for the first time in Hyoscyamus muticus. These roots produced more hyoscyamine than in planta. Flores H. E. and Filner P., Primary & Secondary Metabolism of Plant Cell Cultures. Springer Verlag, (Eds. Neumann K. H., Barz W. and Reinhard E.): 174-186.
1986	Transformation of tobacco protoplasts by direct DNA microinjection. Crossway A. et al., Mol. Gen. Genet., 202: 179-185.
1987	Use of Microprojectile gun for particle bombardment for genetic transformation and recovery of individuals showing transient gene expression. Klein T. M. et al., Nature, 327: 70-73.
	First monocot (Asparagus) transformation by Agrobacterium tumefaciens. Bytebier B. et al., P. N. A. S. (USA), 84: 5345-5349.
	Micro-injection for direct DNA delivery into plant cells. Miki B. L. A. et al., Plant DNA Infectious Agents., vol. 3: 249-265.
1988	Recovery of stable transformants through particle bombardment. Klein T. M. et al., P. N. A. S. (USA), 85: 4305-4309.
	Automated mass propagation with organogenesis and embryogenesis. Levi R. et al., Biotechnol., 6: 1035.
1990	Plant transformation by microinjection of intact plant cells. Neuhaus G., Physiol. Plant., 79: 213-217.
	Electroporation of intact plant tissues for direct DNA delivery. Dekeyser R. A. et al., Plant Cell, 2: 591-602.
	Silicon carbide fiber-mediated DNA delivery in plant cells. Kaeppler H. F. et al., Plant Cell Rep., 9: 415-418.
1991	Cryopreservation of alkaloid-producing cell culture of Catahranthus. The cells retain the property of alkaloid synthesis even after thawing. Lynch P. T. and Benson E. E., Rice Genetics II, IRRI, Manila, Phillipines,: 321.
	Production of first transgenic plants of a conifer (Larix decidua, by Agrobacterium rhizogenes mediated transformation). Huang Y. et al., In vitro Cell Dev. Biol., 27: 201-207.
1992	Successful metabolic engineering of Atropa belladona for increased alkaloid production. Yun D.-J. et al., P. N. A. S. (USA), 89: 11799-11803.
	Herbicide resistant rice plants through PEG mediated transformation of protoplasts. Dutta S. K. et al., Plant Mol. Biol., 20: 619-629.
1993	In vitro fertilization with isolated single gametes resulting in zygotic embryogenesis and recovery of fertile maize plants. Kranz E. and Lorz H., The Plant Cell, 5: 739-746.
	"Green Hairy roots" showing photoautotrophy due to development of photosynthetic ability. Flores H. E. et al., Plant Physiol., 101: 363-371.
1994	Marketing of genetically engineered tomato: 'Flavr-Savr'
	Improved plant transformation through electrophoresis. Giesbach R. J., Plant Sci., 102: 81-89.
1996	Development of ‘agrolistic’ method of plant transformation. Hansen G. and Chilton M. D., P. N. A. S. (USA), 93: 14978-14983.
	Development of a binary bacterial artificial chromosome (BBIC) vector for Agrobacterium-mediated transformation (Transfer capacity of 150 kb). Hamilton C. M. et al., P. N. A. S. (USA), 93: 9975-9979.