340 The Plant Tissue Culture Information Exchange Media Database
The Univ. of Minnesota hosts the PLANT-TC Listserv as a service to the international tissue culture community (http://www.agro.agri.umn.edu/plant-tc/listserv/). One of the most frequently sought types of information is a recommendation for a “beginning point” for culturing a wide variety of plant species. Many of these inquiries come from individuals without ready access to extensive library holdings, including those in industry, public schools, and international sites. A Web site prototype that includes a searchable database of tissue culture recipes is being constructed and offered for user input. The database currently is located at http://webtutor.tamu.edu/students/herring/project/, but will be redirected to its own URL if user feedback is positive. The database also includes information about equipment and materials, media suppliers and domestic and foreign sources for tissue cultures and micropropagated plants. Other educational resources, including a virtual tour of a commercial tissue culture lab, are available on the site. The Web site and database will be reviewed by a panel of experts and modified according to their input prior to being posted for public access.