permaculture

[Lee Flier <lflier@mindspring.com>]

Hey all -

How does everyone feel about tree propagation through tissue culture?  Call
me paranoid, but I'm a bit leary of it.  Seems to me that it would greatly
reduce genetic diversity, and even if a particular strain were bred to
resist the disease of the moment, it would seem to be particularly
vulnerable to being wiped out by a disease of the future.

I don't feel tissue culture is in the same league with propagation from
cuttings, not only because the cuttings one could get from a single tree
would be limited, but also the individual branches of a tree contain
slightly different genetic material, do they not?  (hence branches which
have seedless fruit, etc.)

Any comments about this would be appreciated.

= Lee =


==================================
Lee A. Flier
lflier@mindspring.com
http://lflier.home.mindspring.com
Atlanta and Ellijay, Georgia, U.S.A.