Date Palm Tissue Culture Technician

About the role

The Date Palm Tissue Culture Technician initiates, maintains, multiplies and acclimatizes date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) plantlets using in vitro tissue culture techniques. The role supports large-scale micropropagation, ensures culture quality and keeps sterile laboratory operations compliant with standard protocols.

Key responsibilities

• Initiate and maintain date palm explants (shoot meristems, somatic embryos) under aseptic conditions
• Prepare and sterilize culture media, reagents and consumables
• Perform subculturing, multiplication, shooting and rooting of in vitro cultures
• Monitor cultures for contamination, physiological disorders and growth performance
• Carry out somatic embryogenesis and organogenesis protocols
• Assist with acclimatization and hardening of plantlets in the greenhouse
• Maintain detailed records of cultures, protocols and production output
• Follow laboratory safety, hygiene and quality control procedures
• Support protocol optimization and scaling-up activities

Required profile

• Bachelor's degree in Biotechnology, Plant Pathology, Agronomy, Horticulture, Biological Sciences or a related field; an associate degree or diploma with relevant hands-on lab experience is also considered
• Hands-on experience in plant tissue culture, preferably with date palm

Required skills

• Aseptic techniques and culture media preparation
• Plant tissue transformation