JP4733438B2 - Closed container for plant growth and plant growth method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a plant growing container used for tissue culture, plant factory, facility cultivation, and the like, a plant growing method using the same, and a plant growing medium.

  In recent years, techniques for artificially controlling the environment and controlling plant growth, such as tissue culture, plant factories, and facility cultivation, are rapidly expanding and spreading. For example, the plant breeding method using tissue culture technology is superior to the conventional breeding method in that genetically uniform clones can be propagated in large quantities in a short period of time regardless of the season or environmental conditions. In place of seed and vegetative propagation in cultivated plants. Since tissue culture is aseptic culture, plant seedlings used for culture are not infected with bacteria or filamentous fungi, and excision and cultivation of the shoot apical portion including shoot apical meristem is virus-free or virus density is extremely low Seed and seedlings can be produced, and the yield and quality are increased.

  However, it is known that the conventional tissue culture technique cultivates tissue on a medium in which a gelling agent such as agar is added to a sealed container, so that carbon dioxide in the container is remarkably insufficient (for example, non-patent Reference 1). This indicates that the plant tissue absorbs carbon dioxide even when sugar is added as a carbon source.

  Several approaches have been taken to solve such problems. For example, maintaining the culture chamber at a high concentration of carbon dioxide, attaching an air permeable filter to the incubator, or using an incubator configured with an air permeable film, the ventilation rate between the inside and outside of the container can be adjusted. To supply carbon dioxide inside the incubator (see, for example, Patent Document 1, Non-Patent Documents 1 and 2), or to the incubator itself, and directly into the incubator through a filter The thing which tries to send in carbon dioxide gas (for example, refer nonpatent literature 1) etc. are mentioned.

JP-A-11-275995 Toyoki Kozai, “Natural and Science and Technology Series: A New Stage in Plant Tissue Culture”, Agricultural Bunkyo, 1998 Michio Tanaka et al., “Effects of CO2 Application on Phalaenopsis Clone Seedling Production Using Film Culture System”, Sonogaku miscellaneous, 68, 1, 1999, p. 291

  However, these culture methods have the following problems. First, the ventilation filter causes evaporation of moisture at the same time as ventilation, and if a gelling agent is used for the medium, drying damage occurs in the plant, and in the case of liquid support material culture, the medium is reduced. You must make up for moisture. A breathable film is not such a thing, but it is expensive and requires complicated operations such as dispensing of the medium under aseptic conditions. Further, when supplying carbon dioxide through piping, there are a number of problems such as complicated assembly of the piping, difficulty in adjusting the flow rate, and high cost of the filter as a consumable. Therefore, although the problem of carbon dioxide deficiency in the incubator has been recognized, the above-described method is not adopted, and the current situation is that cultured seedling production is performed using an old culture method.

  The present invention is a plant growing container that solves the shortage of carbon dioxide in a growing container, which is a disadvantage, while taking advantage of the conventional culture method, and a plant growing method and a plant growing medium using the same. .

The present invention is a plant-growing sealed container used for plant growth , having a photocatalyst layer with a film thickness of 50 nm to 2000 nm formed by applying a photocatalyst to the inner wall surface of the container, and contacting the organic compound with the photocatalyst. It has a function of supplying carbon dioxide to a plant by generating carbon dioxide by a photocatalytic reaction .

Moreover, it is preferable that the said photocatalyst is a visible light responsive photocatalyst in the said airtight container for plant cultivation.

Further, the present invention is a plant growing method for growing a plant , having a photocatalyst layer having a film thickness of 50 nm to 2000 nm formed by applying a photocatalyst to the inner wall surface of the container, and in the sealed container, An organic compound is brought into contact with the photocatalyst, and by photoirradiation from a light source, a photocatalytic reaction is caused in the photocatalyst, and carbon dioxide is generated and supplied to the plant.

  The present invention is also a plant growing method for growing a plant, wherein at least one of a photocatalyst and a material carrying a photocatalyst is mixed in a substantially transparent medium, and the organic compound in the medium The photocatalyst is caused to occur in the photocatalyst by light irradiation from a light source, and carbon dioxide is generated and supplied to the plant.

  In the plant growing method, it is preferable that the photocatalyst includes a visible light responsive photocatalyst, and light for growing the plant includes visible light.

  Furthermore, the present invention is a plant growth medium used for plant growth, comprising at least one of a photocatalyst and a material carrying a photocatalyst, which is substantially transparent, and the organic compound by the photocatalyst It has the function of supplying carbon dioxide to plants by decomposing.

  In the plant growth medium, the photocatalyst is preferably a visible light responsive photocatalyst.

  In the present invention, carbon dioxide necessary for plant growth can be generated by supporting a photocatalyst inside and irradiating light while contacting the photocatalyst with an organic compound in a plant growing container.

  Further, in the present invention, a photocatalyst is mixed in a substantially transparent medium placed in a plant growth container, and this photocatalyst is irradiated with light while being in contact with an organic compound contained in the medium. Carbon dioxide can be generated.

  With the plant growth container, plant growth method, and plant growth medium of the present invention, the conventional cultivation, seedling, and culture method are hardly changed, and the plant body or plant tissue in the container is not encountered with a shortage of carbon dioxide. Culture and cultivation can be performed. Therefore, plants with excellent characteristics can be mass-produced at low cost and high quality.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below.

  In the plant-growing container according to the embodiment of the present invention, carbon dioxide necessary for plant growth is generated by carrying a photocatalyst inside and irradiating light after contacting the photocatalyst with an organic compound. . This will be described in detail below.

<Container for plant cultivation>
An outline of an example of a plant growing container according to this embodiment is shown in FIG. 1 and the configuration thereof will be described. The plant growing container 1 includes a main body 10, a lid 12, and a photocatalyst layer 14. The photocatalyst layer 14 is formed on the inner wall surface and the inner bottom surface of the main body 10 as shown in FIG. 1 and FIG.

(container)
Although there is no restriction | limiting in particular as the material of the main body 10 of the container 1 for plant growth, In order to irradiate light to a plant from the outside, it is preferable that it is a substantially transparent material which permeate | transmits light, such as glass and plastics. . Containers, films, and the like that have been used for conventional tissue culture, seedling, and cultivation can be used as they are. Preferably, a material such as glass, TPX (polymethylpentene), or the like, which easily activates the photocatalyst and easily transmits ultraviolet light or visible light, is more suitable. Moreover, since the morphogenesis of the plant may be normally performed when some ultraviolet light is included in the light irradiated to the plant, the material of the main body 10 is polycarbonate or polypropylene having a high ultraviolet light shielding rate. It is preferable to use glass that easily transmits ultraviolet light, TPX (polymethylpentene), or the like.

  Further, the lid 12 is not always necessary, but in order to efficiently use the generated carbon dioxide, the plant growing container 1 is preferably a sealed container sealed by a sealing means such as a lid. Moreover, it is preferable that the plant growing container 1 is a closed container for aseptic culture. The material of the lid 12 can be the same as the material of the main body 10. Further, the main body 10 may be made of a non-transparent material, and the lid 12 may be made of a substantially transparent material. Further, the light source may be provided inside the plant growing container 1 as a non-transparent material for the main body 10 and the lid 12.

  In addition, the body 10 or lid 12 is made of a reflective / reflective material such as a mirror, and scattered light or reflected light is used, or a structure with many irregularities such as ground glass is introduced to apply the photocatalyst. It is also possible to increase the surface area.

  Although there is no restriction | limiting in particular in the shape of the main body 10 of the container 1 for plant cultivation, For example, things, such as polygonal cylinder shapes, such as a cylinder shape and a square cylinder shape, an elliptic cylinder shape, a cone shape, can be used.

(photocatalyst)
The photocatalyst to be carried inside the container 1 for plant growth is not particularly limited as long as it is a substance that exhibits photocatalytic properties, and examples thereof include titanium oxide and zinc oxide. Depending on the type of light that expresses the photocatalytic properties, when using sunlight with a large amount of light in the ultraviolet region, it is possible to exemplify titanium oxide, which is an ultraviolet photocatalyst. When using artificial light with low light content, nitrogen-doped titanium oxide, which is a visible light responsive photocatalyst, is more effective.

(Supporting photocatalyst)
The method for carrying the photocatalyst inside the container 1 for plant growth is not particularly limited, but there is a method for forming the photocatalyst layer 14 as shown in FIGS. It is easy.

  Although there is no restriction | limiting in particular as a method of apply | coating a photocatalyst inside the container 1 for plant growth, It is effective to apply | coat by methods, such as a spray method or a dipping method, using a photocatalyst coating liquid. The film thickness and uniformity of the formed photocatalyst layer 14 may be coated at a level that does not substantially inhibit plant photosynthesis, and is not particularly limited. For example, the film thickness is in the range of 50 nm to 2000 nm, and 100 nm. A range of ˜300 nm is preferable.

  Moreover, in order to improve the generation efficiency of carbon dioxide, it is preferable to increase the application area of the photocatalyst on the inner surface of the main body 10 as much as possible to increase the contact area between the photocatalyst and the organic compound. For this reason, it is preferable to apply the photocatalyst to the entire inner surface of the main body 10. Further, a photocatalyst may be supported on the inner wall surface of the lid 12. Furthermore, it is also effective to employ a structure with many irregularities such as frosted glass on the inner surface of the main body as described above.

(Photocatalyst coating solution)
The photocatalyst coating liquid is obtained by dispersing photocatalyst powder in a solvent such as water or alcohol, and further mixing a binder. Since the photocatalyst powder is carried inside the container 1 for plant growth, it is preferable to make the particle diameter of the photocatalyst powder smaller than the wavelength of light when transparency is required. It is preferably 300 nm or less, preferably 200 nm or less. Here, the binder has a function of adhering the photocatalyst powder to the base material after application and drying of the photocatalyst coating liquid, and the components include inorganic binders such as water glass and silica sol, and / or Organic-inorganic composite binders such as silicon resin and silicon oligomer are preferred. Furthermore, when making a container etc. disposable, organic type binders, such as an acrylic binder, can also be used as a carbon source.

  The ratio of the photocatalyst powder to the binder in the photocatalyst coating liquid is preferably 8: 2 to 4: 6, and more preferably 7: 3 to 5: 5. The solid content of the photocatalyst powder and the binder is not particularly limited as long as it is adjusted according to the use, but is preferably in the range of 0.1 to 20% by weight based on the total weight of the photocatalyst coating solution, and more preferably 1 A range of ˜15% by weight is preferred.

<Plant growing method>
After bringing the organic compound into contact with the photocatalyst layer 14 inside the plant growth container 1 produced in this manner, a plant growth medium (hereinafter, sometimes simply referred to as “medium”) as shown in FIG. 16 is provided, and a plant 18 to be grown is placed on the culture medium 16. Alternatively, a medium 16 in which an organic compound is mixed is provided in the photocatalyst layer 14, and a plant 18 to be grown is placed on the medium 16. Thereafter, by irradiating light 22 from the light source 20, a photocatalytic reaction is caused in the photocatalytic layer 14 to generate carbon dioxide and supply it to the plant 18.

(Contact between photocatalyst and organic compound)
The method for bringing the photocatalyst into contact with the organic compound is not particularly limited, but the photocatalyst or a material carrying the photocatalyst is immersed in the organic compound, or the organic catalyst is applied to the photocatalyst or the material carrying the photocatalyst. And a method of spraying an organic compound on a photocatalyst or a material carrying a photocatalyst can be exemplified. Moreover, you may make the culture medium containing the organic compound contact with a photocatalyst by said method. Furthermore, in the case where a photocatalyst is mixed in a medium containing an organic compound, it is effective because the photocatalyst comes into direct contact with the organic compound.

  The organic compound used for contacting with the photocatalyst is not particularly limited as long as it is a carbon source. However, since it is preferable that it does not harm the growth of plants, naturally derived starch, cellulose, pectin, etc. Polysaccharides such as saccharides such as sucrose, glucose and mannitol, semi-synthetic carboxymethylcellulose (CMC), cellulose derivatives such as methylcellulose (MC), polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), polyacrylic acid polymers, polyvinylpyrrolidone ( Examples thereof include polymers such as PVP) and polyethylene glycol (PEG). Moreover, since the organic compound tends to be decomposed by the photocatalyst as compared with the unsaturated compound, the saturated compound is preferable.

(Plant growth medium)
As the plant growth medium 16, specifically, a medium conventionally used for plant tissue culture, for example, a medium of Murashige & Skoog (1962) [Murashige & Skoog], Vasin Went ( 1949) [Vacin & Went] medium, White (1963) [White] medium, Gamborg B-5 medium, Niche niche medium [Nitch & Nitch], etc. Examples include media prepared by adding carbon sources, plant hormones, vitamins, amino acids, etc. (for example, Yoshimi Niimi, “Biotechnology of Illustrated Flowers”, Sebundo Shinkosha, 1992, p. 172-173) or hydroponic liquids such as garden trials used for hydroponics (for example, Toshitaka Itaki, “Garden Horticulture Equipment and Cultivation Technology”, Seikodo Shinkosha, 1988, p. .408) is not particularly limited. As the plant growth medium that can be used in the present embodiment, a liquid culture medium or a liquid culture medium that combines a liquid culture medium with a liquid culture medium or a support material composed of, for example, glass, mineral, plastic, polymer, cellulose, and the like, For example, a substantially transparent culture medium such as a solid culture medium usually containing 0.1 to 2% by weight of a gelling agent such as agar or gellite with respect to the weight of the whole culture medium can be mentioned. In order to maintain the pH of the medium, a buffer such as carbonate may be mixed in the medium.

  The culture medium 16 is provided, for example, on the inner bottom surface of the main body 10 of the plant growing container 1. When the organic compound is contained in the medium 16, the medium 16 is contacted not only on the inner bottom surface of the main body but also on the inner wall surface in order to increase the contact area between the photocatalyst and the organic compound and improve the growth efficiency of the plant. It is preferable to make it. For this reason, after inject | pouring the culture medium 16 into the main body 10, after making the culture medium 16 adhere to the whole inner surface of the main body 10, it is good to make it gelatinize. In addition, for sterilizing the inside of the plant growing container 1, after injecting the medium into the main body 10, before gelling the medium 16, using an autoclave or the like, for example, at 115 ° C. to 125 ° C. for 15 minutes to 40 minutes, High pressure steam sterilization is preferred. If the inside of the container 1 for plant growth is sterilized and then sealed with a lid 12 or the like, aseptic culture becomes possible, seedlings and seedlings with a virus-free or extremely low virus density can be produced, and the yield and quality of the plant can be increased. .

(light source)
As the light source 20, a light source that is normally used such as a fluorescent lamp, an LED, a cold cathode fluorescent lamp, and a high-pressure sodium lamp is used for artificial cultivation such as sunlight in tissue cultivation, plant factory, and facility cultivation as house cultivation. It can be used as it is as a light source for the photocatalyst. In particular, when a visible light responsive photocatalyst is used, an LED or the like that does not contain ultraviolet light functions effectively.

  In addition, when aiming at the growth of plants, it is known that strong light of 310 nm or less emitted from an ultraviolet lamp or the like has a harmful effect on plants (for example, Yabuki Tsuji et al., “Agricultural Environment Control Engineering”, Asakura Shoten, 1985, p.12-13), it is preferable not to use an ultraviolet light source as a light source. This is because substances such as nuclear proteins and nucleic acids (DNA) that are important for plant life maintenance absorb light energy below 285 nm and are destroyed. On the other hand, light in the visible light region has the most important influence on plant growth, and photosynthesis, morphogenesis (day length reaction), reflection, etc. are all performed by light in the visible light region. Therefore, in the present embodiment, it is preferable to use an artificial light source such as a fluorescent lamp, an LED, or a cold cathode fluorescent lamp mainly composed of light in the visible region as a light source, and the photocatalyst is not a general ultraviolet-responsive photocatalyst. It is preferable to use a visible light responsive photocatalyst such as nitrogen-doped titanium oxide.

  In addition, in the present embodiment, light in the visible region is the main component of the light source because the morphogenesis of the plant may be normally performed when some ultraviolet light is included in the light irradiated to the plant. In addition, it is preferable to use a light source such as a fluorescent lamp that contains some light in the ultraviolet region, and the photocatalyst is preferably a visible light responsive photocatalyst such as nitrogen-doped titanium oxide instead of a general ultraviolet responsive photocatalyst. .

(Plant cultivation)
The plants grown in the plant growing container are all plants that absorb carbon dioxide and perform photosynthesis, and are not particularly limited. Specific examples include algae such as kombu, wakame and moss, fern plants such as horsetail and spring, gymnosperms such as cycad, ginkgo and pine, angiosperms such as cherry, pea, rice and lily. . The growth mode is not particularly limited, and examples thereof include a water tank for growing aquatic plants, tissue culture performed in an incubator, hermetic insertion used for seedling growth, and house cultivation.

  For the growth, after the culture medium and the plant are installed in the plant growth container 1 according to this embodiment and sealed with a lid, for example, the plant growth container 1 is installed on a multistage shelf 24 as shown in FIG. And it can carry out by irradiating the light 22 from the light source 20 provided above each shelf 24. FIG.

(Added value)
Since the container for plant growth used in this way retains the function of decomposing organic compounds, for example, in tissue culture, prevention of contamination by bacteria and mold sterilization, ethylene which is a kind of plant hormone, It also has added value such as decomposition.

  As described above, the plant growing container according to the present embodiment has a function of supplying carbon dioxide simply by bringing an organic compound into contact with a container carrying a photocatalyst therein and irradiating light. Furthermore, plant growth can be promoted at low cost.

In addition to the above procedure, the plant growth container according to the present embodiment can be used in combination with a conventional growth promotion method. For example, as described in Patent Document 1, a breathable filter is provided under the conditions of indoor carbon dioxide concentration of 1000 to 2000 μmol / mol and photosynthetic effective photon flux density of 150 to 300 μmol / m ² / sec. Photoautotrophic culture may be carried out using an incubator and a sugar-free medium.

(Medium mixed with photocatalyst)
In addition, the photocatalyst is mixed with a substantially transparent medium, brought into contact with an organic compound in the medium, and by photoirradiation from a light source, a photocatalytic reaction is caused in the photocatalyst, and carbon dioxide is generated and supplied to the plant. Also good. In this case, it is only necessary to mix the photocatalyst and the medium, and plant growth can be promoted at a low cost.

  Furthermore, a material in which a photocatalyst is supported on a substantially transparent porous material such as foamed glass or a ceramic porous body is mixed with a medium, brought into contact with an organic compound in the medium, and irradiated with light from a light source to produce a photocatalyst. A photocatalytic reaction may be caused to generate carbon dioxide and supply it to the plant. Further, as shown in FIG. 5, for example, a rectangular column-shaped porous body 26 carrying a photocatalyst is disposed under the intermediate bottom 28 provided with the culture medium 16 and the plant 18 and provided with at least one air hole. Then, it may be brought into contact with the organic compound in the culture medium 16 to cause photocatalytic reaction in the photocatalyst by light irradiation from the light source, to generate carbon dioxide and supply it to the plant. As described above, by supporting the photocatalyst on the porous material, the contact area with the organic compound can be increased, and the generation of carbon dioxide can be further promoted.

  In the case of the example in FIG. 5, for example, after the porous body 26 is placed on the bottom of the plant growing container 1 having the catalyst layer 14 applied to the inner wall surface in advance, a dispersion liquid of photocatalyst alcohol or the like is applied to the porous body 26. The medium 16 and the plant 18 placed in a petri dish or the like may be disposed on the intermediate bottom 28 which is injected and provided with at least one air hole. As the intermediate bottom 28, the same material as that of the container body can be used.

  Hereinafter, although an example and a comparative example are given and the present invention is explained more concretely in detail, the present invention is not limited to the following examples.

Example 1
The entire inner wall of a small glass bottle (hereinafter mayonnaise bottle) having a diameter of 63 mm and a height of 110 mm (volume 200 mL) is coated with a nitrogen-doped titanium oxide visible light responsive photocatalyst to a thickness of 300 nm by a dip method, and at 150 ° C. for 10 minutes. Drying was performed. At this time, nitrogen-doped titanium oxide powder having an average particle diameter of 200 to 300 nm in the coating liquid is used as the coating liquid, and organic silicon is used as the binder, and these are mixed and dispersed at a weight ratio of 5: 5. Used IPA (isopropyl alcohol) with a solid content of 10% by weight. In addition, the film thickness of the photocatalyst layer was measured using a surface shape measuring device (DEKTAK3 type manufactured by ULVAC).

  To this mayonnaise bottle coated with photocatalyst, 30 mL of 1/4 concentration MS medium added with sucrose 20 g / L as a carbon source and organic compound for carbon dioxide generation and agar 7 g / L as a gelling agent was dispensed. . The mayonnaise bottle into which the MS medium was dispensed was sterilized by autoclaving at 120 ° C. for 15 minutes, and then the container was sufficiently agitated to bring the medium into contact with the entire inner wall of the mayonnaise bottle, and the medium was gelled at room temperature. In this medium, the cultured seedlings of Lobelia maintained aseptically were divided into one shoot (live weight of about 80 mg), and two shoots were placed on the medium. The lid of the mayonnaise bottle was made of TPX, and the container was sealed. Cultivation was performed at 23 ° C., a W-type fluorescent lamp was used as the light source, the illuminance was 2000 Lux, and the day length was 16 hours. After 4 weeks, the seedlings were cut again, and their fresh weight and number of buds were measured. The results are shown in Table 1.

(Example 2)
A mayonnaise bottle coated with an ultraviolet photocatalyst (titanium oxide, average particle size in the coating solution of 200 to 300 nm) was used as the incubator, and the other conditions were all tested in the same manner as in Example 1. The results are shown in Table 1.

(Comparative Example 1)
All tests were performed in the same manner as in Example 1 except that a mayonnaise bottle not coated with a photocatalyst was used in the incubator. The results are shown in Table 1.

  As is apparent from Table 1, the incubator without the photocatalyst is coated by coating the inner wall of the incubator with the photocatalyst as in Examples 1 and 2 and bringing the medium into contact with each other to perform normal culture. A growth promoting effect superior to that of Comparative Example 1 used was obtained. Furthermore, the growth container carrying the visible light responsive photocatalyst of Example 1 by the visible light component of the fluorescent lamp is more effective in promoting the growth than the growth container carrying the ultraviolet photocatalyst of Example 2. was gotten.

It is a figure which shows the outline of an example of the container for plant cultivation which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the cross section of an example of the main body of the container for plant cultivation which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the outline of an example of the plant growing method which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the outline of an example of the plant growing method which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the outline of the other example of the plant cultivation method which concerns on embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Plant growing container, 10 main body, 12 lid, 14 photocatalyst layer, 16 plant growing culture medium (medium), 18 plants, 20 light source, 22 light, 24 shelves, 26 porous body, 28 intermediate bottom.

Claims (4)

A plant-growing sealed container used for plant growth,
It has a photocatalyst layer with a film thickness of 50 nm to 2000 nm formed by applying a photocatalyst to the inner wall surface of the container, and an organic compound is brought into contact with the photocatalyst to generate carbon dioxide by a photocatalytic reaction, thereby supplying carbon dioxide to plants. A closed container for plant cultivation characterized by having a function. A hermetic container for growing plants according to claim 1 ,
An airtight container for plant growth, wherein the photocatalyst is a visible light responsive photocatalyst. A plant growing method for growing a plant,
A photocatalyst layer having a film thickness of 50 nm to 2000 nm formed by applying a photocatalyst to the inner wall surface of the container is brought into contact with an organic compound in a sealed container, and the photocatalyst is irradiated with light from a light source in the photocatalyst. A plant growing method characterized by causing a reaction to generate carbon dioxide and supplying it to a plant. The plant growing method according to claim 3 ,
A plant growing method, wherein the photocatalyst includes a visible light responsive photocatalyst, and light for growing the plant includes visible light.

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