194 W. A. VENDRAME AND A. A. KHODDAMZADEH
reduction in production costs and labor, as well as providing a faster
and more efficient means for large-scalein vitropropagation of plants,
as compared to conventionalin vitro(agar-based) methods (Ziv 2000,
2005). Temporary immersion bioreactors involve different frequencies
of immersion of explants in liquid media, with control over the time
of immersions per day as well as the duration of each immersion.
Such systems have been efficient in improving the quality and rates
of multiplication in several species, including banana, carrot, coffee,
potato, and rubber (Alvard et al. 1993; Akita and Takayama 1994;
Archambault et al 1995; Teisson and Alvard 1995; Etienne et al 1997).
Different types of temporary immersion systems have been described
by Etienne and Berthouly (2002), with successes reported for shoot
multiplication, microcuttings, microtubers, and somatic embryos. In
addition to the advantages listed above, bioreactors require less space
for cultures, and promote increased plant quality and vigor, increased
yield and overall improved efficiency (Etienne and Berthouly 2002).
B. Bioreactor Technology for Orchid Production
Despite many reports of large-scalein vitroproduction for different
plants using bioreactors, this technology is relatively recent for orchids.
The use of bioreactors for orchidin vitropropagation offers the advan-
tage of scaling-up through the faster production of large numbers of
plantlets at reduced costs and labor (Hossain et al. 2013).
An early report indicated that the culture of shoot tips of thePoti-
naraorchid in a temporary immersion bioreactor system resulted in
faster and more vigorous growth (Tisserat and Vandercock 1985, 1986).
Park et al. (2000) reported large-scale production of PLBs inPhalaenop-
sisusing two types of bioreactor cultures, a temporary immersion sys-
tem and a continuous immersion culture. Young et al. (2000) also
reported large-scale multiplication of PLBs fromPhalaenopsisusing
similar systems. Adventitious shoot multiplication and rooting ofPha-
laenopsiswas obtained using a temporary immersion system described
by Hempfling and Preil (2002, 2005). High rates of multiplication and
increases in fresh weight were observed, suggesting a reduction in costs
and labor. Flower buds removed fromPhalaenopsisinflorescences were
used in an air-driven periodic immersion bioreactor to induce PLBs,
resulting in cultures that showed superior characteristics as compared
to solid or liquid cultures (Liu et al. 2002). Paek et al. (2005) also
describes protocols for micropropagation ofPhalaenopsisandAnoec-
tochilusorchids using different types of bioreactors for both PLB and