Development of a modular micropropagation system for commercial plant propagation

微繁殖利用植物组织培养在无菌和明确的条件下快速繁殖植物。每年用于繁殖约10亿株植物，并构成世界各地清洁植物计划的基础。加拿大目前正在开发一种国家清洁植物系统，该系统将证明植物对各种作物没有病毒/疾病，以限制病虫害的传播并促进国际出口。限制微繁殖使用的主要因素是这种技术对劳动力的高要求，这使得提高效率对该行业的维持/发展至关重要。尽管微繁殖被广泛使用，但基本系统自几十年前开发以来并没有太大变化，设计中存在的一些长期固有的问题仍然存在。最近，在琼斯博士的CFI资助的实验室中，使用3D打印设计和生产了一种新型的模块微繁殖系统。该容器包含内部通道和基台，可以整合各种插入物/组件来调节内部环境，以解决微繁殖的几个常见问题。开发的模块包括1)改进的照明，具有更好的一致性/控制性，允许容器堆放以提高生产效率，2)被动调节二氧化碳和湿度水平，以实现最佳植物生长，3)被动液体培养，以促进实用的液体微繁殖，4)液体试管生根模块，以减少损失和改善植物健康，以及5)微型摇杆系统，使这项技术能够以非模块化方式使用，使其能够逐步扩展。已经制作了几个模块的原型，并提交了两项临时专利。到目前为止，这些模块都是使用3D打印技术生产的，但这种技术不适合商业规模的制造。该项目的目标将是在商业环境中评估原型系统，利用他们的反馈来改进模块，并建立商业规模制造能力。这一关键步骤将使该系统从演示原型过渡到可商业化的可行产品。

Micropropagation uses plant tissue culture to rapidly multiply plants in sterile and well-defined conditions.This is used to propagate approximately 1 billion plants per year and forms the basis of clean plant programsaround the world. Canada is currently developing a national clean plant system that will certify plants arevirus/disease free for a variety of crops to limit the spread of pests/disease and facilitate international export.The main factor limiting the use of micropropagation, especially in developed countries, is the high labourrequirements of this technique that make increased efficiency critical to sustain/grow the industry.Despite the widespread use of micropropagation, the basic systems have not changed much since beingdeveloped decades ago and several long-standing problems inherent in the design remain. A novel modularmicropropagation system was recently designed and produced using 3D printing in Dr. Jones' CFI-funded lab.The vessel contains internal channels and abutments that can integrate various inserts/components to regulatethe internal environment to address several common problems with micropropagation. The developed modulesinclude 1) improved lighting with better uniformity/control that allows vessels to be stacked for increasedproduction efficiency, 2) passive regulation of CO2 and humidity levels for optimal plant growth, 3) passiveliquid culture to facilitate practical liquid based micropropagation, 4) a liquid in vitro rooting module to reducelabour and improve plant health, and 5) a micro-rocker system to enable this technology to be used in amodular fashion to enable gradual expansion. Several modules have been prototyped and 2 provisional patentshave been submitted. To date the modules have been produced using 3D printing, but this technique is notsuitable for commercial scale manufacturing. The objectives of this project will be to evaluate the prototypesystem in a commercial setting, use their feedback to refine the modules, and establish commercial scalemanufacturing capacity. This critical step will transition the system from a demonstrated prototype to a viableproduct ready for commercialization.