4 O'Clock Forum: 'SE Fluidics System' for plant production

4 O'Clock Forum kicks off this year's seminar series with a talk by Dr Ulrika Egertsdotter, Professor, Swedish University of Agricultural Science.

Somatic embryogenesis (SE) is a laboratory-based method for clonal propagation of plants. In conifers, SE is the only available method for large-scale production of clonal plants. SE plant production has however long been hampered by high demand for manual labour in the existing methods. Recently developed automated fluidics-based handling of the embryos for harvest, imaging and sorting provides new opportunities for creating a large database correlating the morphology and physical characteristics of embryos to the quality traits of plant formation resulting in high quality plants. Novel design of temporary immersion bioreactors allow for improved development in several steps of the SE process, and reduced handling time. The fluidics-based technology has been successfully demonstrated for the full line of production of Norway spruce plants, from bioreactor to nursery and field planting.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER

Dr Ulrika Egertsdotter is a professor at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences in Umeå, Sweden, and the scientific leader for the SE-lab at Umeå Plant Science Center. She is also a principal research scientist at G.W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, focusing on automation and technology development for plant production. Her research interest is on fundamental aspects of embryogenesis in conifers. She also works with practical applications of somatic embryogenesis for forestry operations.

Everyone is welcome to attend.