Each section combines related facets of plant tissue culture and includes one to several concept chapters, usually with accompanying laboratory exercises. In addition to the information included in this book, explosive expansion of internet access in the last few years have provided new and almost indispensable learning resources for the student. We mention two useful listservers here and encourage students to log onto them for background information and additional support. One is the Plant-TC listserv, which was conceived and maintained by Dr. Mark Galatowitsch at the University of Minnesota. The Plant-TC listserv is an international forum for discussing scientific, educational, hobby and other aspects related to plant tissue culture.
Subscription is then automatic.
Another internet service, is Agnet, which is maintained by Dr. Douglas Powell at the University of Guelph. Agnet provides current news that focuses on agriculture and, particularly, the development and impact of transgenic crops worldwide. Based upon the many telephone calls, letters and e-mails that we received, the first edition of Plant Tissue Culture Concepts and Laboratory Exercises successfully facilitated training of students in current principles and methodologies of our rapidly evolving field. We asked for constructive criticisms from users of the book and employed them to make a number of improvements in this second edition. The most notable improvement is the addition of listed steps as procedure boxes in the laboratory exercises, which will make procedures easier to follow.