RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM Identifying and Implementing Sustainable Solutions
The Research and Development Program is to provide this industry with the resources necessary to attain sustained profitability and international competitiveness. The company's R & D is focused on high multiplication ratios in Banana and Gerbera for more commercial viability. Lowering mortality rate in major crops like Banana is challenge at hand, which will be accomplished through a highly integrated program.
New and innovative production strategies for crops is developed on a thorough understanding of the physiological processes governing plant growth and development. The R & D program has obtained encouraging results in reducing the mutation rates and contamination. Also a new initiation protocol development for woody plants and ornamental plants is under development. The R&D has adopted germplasm to combine genetic traits to produce high yielding hybrids and disease free crops using highly advanced molecular techniques.
Molecular Biology Lab facilities at ACE AGRO
The company is fully equipped with the Molecular Biology Lab facilities for following objectives:
To evaluate quality assurance
To check the genetic purity
To improve the crop for its trait or value addition
The Molecular Biology Laboratory has all the major instrumentations like PCR, Centrifuge, gel documentation, electrophoresis units, deep freezer, etc. and also ELISA plate reader and washer.
The laboratory consists of well qualified expertise & technical manpower.
Media Preparation
A semi-solid medium is prepared in double distilled water containing macro elements, micro elements, amino acids, vitamins, iron source, carbon source like source and phyto-hormones. The medium is heated for dissolving the agar and 25 to 50 ml is dispensed into each wide mouth bottles. The vessels containing culture media are then sealed and sterilized by autoclaving. The media preparation room has a capacity to produce Media for 2 million plants for month.
Media Storage
The media prepared are stored to check contamination before it is released for the production. The media storage area can hold approximately 50000 bottles at a time
Laminar Flow Area
The starting material for the process is normally an actively growing shoot tip of auxiliary or terminal bud or shoot tip of a plant. The process of tissue culture starts from the selection of mother plants having the desired characteristics. Ex-plant preferably the meristematic tissue of the selected mother plant is isolated. The excised tissue/explants is washed with water and then rinsed with a disinfectant such as savlon or detol solution followed by a sterile –water wash. The tissue is then dipped in 10% bleach solution for ten minutes for disinfection the plant tissue material, killed most of the fungal and bacterial organisms. Sterilization process of explants depends on the plant species and types of explants
Inoculation is carried out under aseptic conditions. in this process explants or micro shoots are transferred on to the sterilized nutrient medium. The laboratory has Lamina flow bench for 60 technicians to work at any given time.
Growth Rooms
After the inoculation of the plant tissue, the bottles are sealed and transferred into growth room to trigger developmental process under diffused light (Fluorescent light of 1000-2000 lux ) at 25 ±20C and 50 to 60% relative humidity. Light and temperature requirements vary from species to species and sometimes during the various stages of developments.
The cultures are observed daily for growth and any signs of infection/contamination. Cultures, that do not show good growth or infected, are discarded. The healthy cultures grow into small shoot buds, these are sub cultured on the fresh medium after 4 weeks.
The number of subcultures required is specific to the plant species, which are standardized. The shoots generally develop after 4 weeks. After enough number of shoots is developed in each container (10to15), to a minimum height of 2cm they are transferred to another medium for initiating the process of rooting. The constituent of rooting medium for each plant species are specific. Roots are generally formed within 2 to 4 weeks. Plants at this stage are delicate and require careful handling.
The facilities at our lab have an annual production capacity of 8-10 million plants depending on the plant species
