Biotechnology and Bioinformatics (1+1)

3.1.11.2. Marine invertebrate tissue culture

The countries like Japan, China, United States, Canada and India initiated marine invertebrate tissue culture. Among these countries, Japan is the pioneer country carrying out research in pearl oyster for the purpose of producing in-vitro pearl through tissue culture. Culture of mantle tissue of pearl producing molluscs has been undertaken in recent years. The latest breakthrough obtained in the culture of mantle tissue of P. fucata and the abalone Haliotis varia is a milestone in tissue culture research. It created the possibilities of not only the production of pearls in large numbers but also different coloured pearls.

In an organ culture, the mantle tissue of a pearl oyster kept in nutrient rich medium resulted in the formation of nacreous layer with organic matrix and a pearl sac within 3 months after organization of cultures. The basic technology developed through tissue culture method can totally eliminates the dependence on natural environment for pearl production. It provides scope for manipulation of the technique to produce pearls of the desired quality.

By organizing explants cultures of pearl producing mollusc, the epithelial cells capable of producing aragonite crystals may be collected and stored in cell bank. The cells can be used at any time for the production of quality pearls in in vitro . The cells in suspension would form the pearl sac that would secrete nacre to form a pearl. Isolation and the type of epithelial cells that would secrete the aragonite crystals, which form the top quality pearls, can be done.