Avocado Micropropagation

Avocado has long been a focus of micropropagation research, but there remain no well-established industrial production systems for the most desirable varieties. The few systems documented in academic studies have not successfully transitioned to commercial production. At Tissue-Grown Corporation, I developed an avocado production system capable of micropropagating several clones of interest, including Duke 7, Steddom, and Zutano.

An Avocado Micropropagation System

As Tissue-Grown Corporation shifted focus away from pistachio production, avocados emerged as a logical new target. Avocado rootstocks are extremely expensive due to their current production methods. Clonal avocados are produced in greenhouses through multiple costly steps dependent on seasonally available materials, creating a significant industrial bottleneck in global production.

The main challenge I faced in developing avocado production systems was the distinct nutritional requirements for each variety during propagation. By employing screening experiments, such as fractional factorial designs and mixture experiments, I optimized the plants' nutritional needs and developed a suitable multiplication medium for each production variety. This enabled the stable expansion of avocado tissue cultures. Building on this foundation, I created rooting protocols that efficiently converted unrooted shoot cultures into rooted plants that could easily acclimate in the greenhouse.

Given adequate time for expansion, micropropagation systems can indefinitely produce as many plants as needed. The key is to scale the multiplication base to reach the desired number of plants each week. These technologies can help alleviate the industry's material bottleneck, providing growers access to the best varieties for their needs.