Automated micro-propagation of plant material

Abstract

This paper describes the development of the first commercial automated tissue culture robot (the Vitron/sup TM/ 501) by the Australian company ForBio Robotics. The purpose of the robot is to automate the cloning of plant material in a sterile environment, a process that is entirely manual at the present time. The robotic process mimics the manual process and involves harvesting a small (6 cm) plant from a tray, cutting it into a number of smaller viable explants and planting these into fresh trays of nutrient medium. This must all be done under sterile conditions. ForBio has identified agro-forestry for pulp and timber products as a large enough market to warrant the cost of automation. Target species include eucalypts, acacia, teak and pine.