Learning environments – Laboratories at the cross roads

Laboratories and technical hands on learning have always been a part of Engineering and Science based university courses. They provide the interface where theory meets practice and students may develop professional skills through interacting with real objects in an environment that models appropriate standards and systems. Laboratories in many countries are facing challenges to their sustainable operation and effectiveness. In some countries such as Australia, significantly reduced funding and staff reduction is eroding a once strong base of technical infrastructure. Other countries such as Thailand are seeking to develop their laboratory infrastructure and are in need of staff skill development, management and staff structure in technical areas. In this paper the authors will address the need for technical development with reference to work undertaken in Thailand and Australia. The authors identify the roads which their respective university sectors are on and point out problems and opportunities. It is hoped that the cross roads where we meet will result in better directions for both

Plant propagation in vitro : hormonal interactions

A number of interesting side effects of the imidazole fungicide imazalil (IMA) can be observed in diverse tissue cultured plant species. Excessive shoot formation in Araceae, inhibition of bushiness in Gerbera, restoration of normal embryo development in Citrus and histogenic instability of Ficus benjamina chimeras will be discussed. Although some of these cases suggest that IMA inhibits GA biosynthesis and ABA metabolism, experiments with Arabidopsis thaliana indicate that IMA is also a strong brassinosteroid biosynthesis inhibitor

Preparation of microplants for ex vitro establishment

The physiological status of tissue-cultured plants can have a tremendous impact on the subsequent survival under greenhouse conditions. A good-looking plant is not a guarantee for success during ex vitro establishment. Different factors determining or influencing some aspects of integral plant quality are discussed: hyperhydricity, photoautotrophy vs. mixotrophy, bushiness and multi-apexing, the evolution of stress-related enzymes, photoinhibition and photomorphogenesis