Wedelia biflora is a creeping herb belongs to the family Asteraceae. Plant tissue culture is one of the methods to mass propagate the plants. A small piece of plant organ (such as plant stem) can be induced to produce callus under controlled conditions. The extract from the callus is then used to screen any biochemical compounds that can be found in that plant. The production of a single compound can be regulated by controlling the growth of callus under certain conditions that are favourable to the production of the targeted compound. By this method, the production of any targeted compound can be maximized by using minimal amount of fresh resources.
{Photographs courtesy of Ms. Siti Norayu Idris of the Institute of Biological Sciences, University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia}