Q.What is Cellular Totipotency ?

Totipotency is the ability of one somatic cell, on its own, to give rise to an entire organism — it is the biological basis of plant tissue culture.

Every living cell of a multicellular organism carries the entire genetic complement (genome) of that organism. Totipotency is the property by which a single such cell — even a fully differentiated somatic cell — retains the genetic potential to express the entire genome and regenerate into a complete, fertile organism, given the right combination of nutrients (a carbon source, minerals, vitamins) and plant growth hormones (auxins and cytokinins in the correct ratio).

The concept was first proposed by the German botanist Gottlieb Haberlandt in 1902, who postulated that isolated plant cells should be capable of regenerating into whole plants, though he could not demonstrate it experimentally. It was later experimentally proved by F.C. Steward, who showed that phloem cells isolated from a carrot root, when cultured in a nutrient medium supplemented with coconut milk (a rich source of cytokinins), could dedifferentiate into a callus and then redifferentiate to form a complete new carrot plant.

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