Patent ID: 6858430

Claim:
A in vitro clonal propagating method for cultivation of marine algae, said method comprising the steps of: a) establishing axenic viable material of algae for tissue culture by sequential treatment of the algal material in sterile sea water with domestic liquid detergent, and povidine iodine and incubating the treated material in Provasoli enriched seawater (PES) medium with a broad spectrum antibiotic mixture and a fungicide for about 24 to 96 hours followed by thorough cleaning with sterile sea water to remove any traces of antibiotics and fungicide and blotting with sterile filter paper to obtain axenic explants; b) culturing the axenic explants on agar plates fortified with PES medium at a temperature ranging between 20-25° C. in the presence of cool white fluorescent lights at about 20-50 μmol photon m −2 s −1 irradiance and a 12:12 light dark cycle for induction of callus; c) excising the callus from the explant after a period of at least 40 days and subculturing the callus on fresh agar plates fortified with PES medium in the presence of cool white fluorescent lights with 40-60 μmol photon m −2 s −1 irradiance and a 12:12 light and dark cycle to obtain differentiated densely pigmented oval or spherical shaped micro-propagules; d) subculturing blocks of the pigmented callus as an embedded culture in agar plates in Provasoli Enriched Seawater (PES) medium containing plant growth regulators, for a period of about 20 to 40 days, in the presence of cool white fluorescent lights of 20-60 μmol photon m −2 s −1 irradiance and a 12:12 light and dark cycle to achieve profusely branched pigmented calli in each embedded block leading to enhanced somatic embryogenesis and micro-propagule formation in pigmented filamentous callus; e) transferring the filamentous calli with somatic embryos to liquid PES medium in an agitated condition for morphogenesis and development of young plantlets with multiple shoots from propagules; and f) cultivating algal biomass on a large scale in the sea by growing the young plantlets in enclosed perforated polythene bags.