13.1 Introduction
Cannabis sativaL., the principle source of a group of terpenophenolic compounds,
the cannabinoids, is an open pollinated crop belonging to the family Cannabaceae.
At present this species has been cultivated widely in the world as a resource offiber,
food and drug. Grown forfiber (Hemp) was introduced in Western Asia and Egypt,
and subsequently to the Europe between 1000 and 2000 BCE. Cultivation of hemp
in Europe became widespread after 500 CE. The crop wasfirst brought to South
America in 1545, in Chile, and to North America in Port Royal, Acadia in 1606
(Small and Marcus 2002 ). Meijer and Soest ( 1992 ) have described the Netherlands
Cannabisbreeding program for paper pulp production and establishment of CPRO
(Center for plant breeding and reproduction research) germplasm collection. Other
countries such as France, Russia, Poland and China have maintainedCannabisas a
fiber crop.
On the other hand, the use ofC. sativaas a medicine is well known. As a plant it
is valued for both its hallucinogenic and medicinal properties and has been used to
treat a variety of ailments including pain, glaucoma, nausea, asthma, depression,
insomnia and neuralgia (Mechoulam et al. 1976 ; Duke and Wain 1981 ). The
therapeutic values ofCannabisderivatives have also been highlighted against
HIV/AIDS (Abrams et al. 2007 ) and multiple sclerosis (Pryce and Baker 2005 ). The
pharmacologic and therapeutic potency of preparations ofCannabis sativaL. and
its main active constituentD^9 -tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) has been extensively
reviewed (Long et al. 2005 ; Sirikantaramas et al. 2007 ).
Cannabisflowers are cross pollinated. Seed propagation is relatively straight-
forward but seed derived progeny can display considerable heterozygosity. Most
Cannabispresently used for medical purposes is grown indoors through vegetative
means, to maintain uniformity and genetic purity. However, propagation through
cuttings is very time consuming and labor intensive process and moreover, the crop
grown indoors (grow room) become susceptible to pests that reproduce rapidly such
as spider mites and aphids. The use of in vitro techniques is a promising alternative
for germplasm collections and breeders. In vitro propagation cannot only play an
important role in rapid multiplication of cultivars with desirable traits but can also
aid in the production of healthy and disease free plants (Lineberger 1983 ).
The objective of this article is to overview the work done in tissue and organ
culture ofCannabisand bring forth the new challenges for the refinement of
protocols as the major thrust of the future research.
286 H. Lata et al.