These plants raised in test-tubes can be made to bloom and develop seeds in the test-tube itself, two expert microbiologists who worked on the project claimed.

The university faculty members, Prof T M Verghese and Dr Anisha Gupta, said a major advantage of the test-tube plant was that it could raise a number of generations through a breeding programme. An advanced experimental strategy could prove that the life-span of the miniature plant could be reduced by 75 to 50 per cent, enabling its generations to brave droughts and similar adverse climatic conditions, they added.

The scientists, who found the success while investigating the possibility of raising hybrid plants of sunflower through micro-propagation technique, said roots played no role in the flowering process of the test-tube plant.

``However, one canalso develop roots and induce flowering by modifying the type and quality of the growth regulator. It is also possible to closely monitor the life cycle and growth process of the plant in the test-tube,'' they said.

CCSHAU Vice-chancellor J B Chowdhury, who monitored the experiments of the two-member team, said a method was also devised to postpone flowering of the plants.

In this process, the genes responsible for flowering would be triggered to activity under the influence of the growth regulator in a controlled environment. It would enhance the enzymatic activity and protein synthesis essential for the flowering process, he noted.

Prof Verghese, who has been guiding students and research scholars in raising a variety of plants of economic importance, said the latest experiment would benefit bio-technology. An expert in employing bio-technological methods for over two decades, he added that the technology could strengthen fundamental research in plant physiology.