Edinburgh Plant Growth Facility
Facilities for the maintenance and propagation of plants and plant tissue culture
Maverick Photography
Maverick Photography
Plant maintenance, propogation, regeneration, tissue culture
Facilities for the maintenance and propagation of plants and plant tissue culture
Edinburgh Plant Growth Facility staff can support the maintenance, propogation and regeneration of plants and plant tissue culture.
Industry sectors that can benefit:
- Agritech, agri-food and plant biology
- Food and drink
- Healthcare and disease
- Life sciences and industrial biotechnology
- Pharmaceuticals and medical biotechnology
Facilities and expertise
Current facilities for plant growth include a standard glasshouse, controlled environment rooms, Grodome, growth cabinets and tissue culture rooms. We have standardised our light sources to LED daylight spectrums throughout the facility.
Tissue Culture Facility
Facilities for the maintenance and propagation of plant tissue culture:
- 3 temperature-controlled rooms (21m² shelf space, lab with laminar flow hoods).
Controlled Environment rooms and cabinets
- 7 walk-in growth rooms (240m² of shelving.)
- 6 rooms run 16 hours light and 1 room runs 9 hours light.
- Five Snijders Economic Deluxe and two Snijders Microclima growth cabinets.
- Standard environmental conditions are 15⁰C - 40⁰C temperature range with up to 250μmol/m²/s of light intensity.
The Grodome
The Grodome is a containment glasshouse with a small header room attached. There are five chambers, one which is primarily used for growing transgenic plants and for research into plant pathogens.
Glasshouse
One heated glasshouse with a total bench surface of 134m² including 3m² of an automated misting unit. Temperature and day length are regulated through a BMS control system. Light levels in the heated glasshouse are ~150μmol/m²/s at bench height.
The plant growth facility can provide the following services:
- Plant maintenance
- Pest control
- Soil/media mixing and trials
- Plant propagation from seed/cuttings to harvest
- Regeneration of plants from cuttings
- Tissue culture
- Crossing
- Grafting
- Seed stock generation
Macro photo of Azolla by Zishan Fu
Case study: Research project to understand sugar transport in plants
The development of phloem tissue in plants was a key evolutionary step enabling sugar transport and larger and more complex plant forms. Dr Sandy Hetherington and Zishan Fu are investigating the origin and evolution of the phloem in early-diverging groups of vascular plants such as ferns, to determine how phloem structure has changed over time.
The Edinburgh Plant Growth facility was able to identify potential sources of Azolla filiculoides, provide advice and support on the correct risk assessments and standard operating procedures for working with the species, and finally establish the optimal growth conditions for the plants. The expertise offered by the plant growth facility staff, has enabled the propogation of A. filiculoides to facilitate further studies of the phloem. A. filiculoides is one of only three ferns that has had its genome sequenced which makes it suitable for such research and has enables a genetic analysis of the structure and function of the phloem and its evolution.
Alongside the evolutionary conclusions that can be drawn from investigating A. filiculoides, the species has also been described as a “super-plant”. A. filiculoides in partnership with its symbiont cyanobacteria has incredibly rapid growth and is already used as biofertiliser, food for livestock, and has been proposed as a potential means for combatting climate change due to its ability to sequester CO2 from the atmosphere.
Further research is planned to fully understand the evolution of the phloem in A. filiculoides and the sugar transport system that underpins this super-plant.
Find out more
Visit the website for The Edinburgh Plant Growth Facility
Interested in learning more?
Speak to our expert
Cameron Chalmers
Consultancy Manager
Cameron Chalmers bio
Cameron Chalmers
Consultancy Manager
