Status of aquatic plant tissue culture in Turkey

Many fascinating and attractive plants are grown world wide in aquariums for beauty, to maintain the quality of water besides providing food, shade, shelter and breeding places for many life forms including fish. Global trade has enabled people in Turkey to benefit from the unprecedented movement and establishment of new but locally unknown ornamental aquarium plant species. Local demand for aquatic plants has shown a steady increase in the past few years. In the absence of established propagation systems, local traders import aquatic ornamental plants illegally to meet the high demand of local people. If proper checks and measures are not taken, this may result in pollution of local aquatic ecosystems in the future. Plant tissue culture has made an appreciable contribution to micro-propagation of a wide range of ornamental, horticultural and other plants. However, tissue culture studies in aquatic plants are not impressive, with few published reports. The use of plant tissue culture techniques for the propagation of aquatic plants can help in reaping many benefits and advantages, including preventing threats to environment. This paper reviews efforts to introduce aquatic plant tissue culture along with its present status in Turkey