LIGHT LABS is pleased to announce that we now carry the full line of MTC Bio Plant Tissue Culture Boxes — autoclavable, clear polycarbonate vessels designed for plant micropropagation, explant culture, and long-term maintenance applications in research, commercial propagation, and conservation lab settings. Available in three sizes to fit a range of species and workflow requirements, these boxes are now in stock and ready to ship from lightlabsusa.com.
What Are Plant Tissue Culture Boxes?
Plant tissue culture boxes — also commonly called culture vessels or Magenta-style boxes — are the standard containment system for in vitro plant propagation. They provide a closed, sterile environment where plant explants, shoots, embryos, or callus tissue are cultured on nutrient media under controlled conditions. The clear polycarbonate construction allows researchers to visually monitor culture development, contamination, shoot emergence, root formation, and media consumption without opening the vessel and risking contamination.
Unlike glass vessels or petri dishes, these polycarbonate boxes are purpose-built for plant tissue culture: autoclavable for repeated sterilization, deep enough to accommodate media and growing plants, and sealed with a secure-fitting polypropylene lid that maintains controlled humidity and gas exchange within the culture environment.
MTC Bio Plant Tissue Culture Box Sizes
LIGHT LABS carries the MTC Bio plant culture box line in three formats, giving labs the flexibility to match vessel size to species requirements, explant size, culture protocol, and incubator shelf dimensions.
B3075 — 3 x 3 x 3 in. | 25/Pack — $93.75
The compact 3 x 3 x 3 in. format is well suited for small explants, early-stage shoot cultures, embryo rescue, and species that don't require significant vertical head space. With 25 boxes per pack, it's an economical choice for labs running large numbers of individual cultures or screening protocols where many small vessels are preferable to fewer large ones.
Best for: Small explant cultures, embryo rescue, seedling germination, shoot tip culture, and high-throughput micropropagation screening.
B3100 — 3 x 3 x 4 in. | 25/Pack — $98.43
The 3 x 3 x 4 in. format is the industry-standard Magenta GA-7 equivalent — the most widely used size in plant tissue culture labs worldwide. The additional height compared to the B3075 provides the vertical clearance needed for shoot elongation, plantlet development, and rooting stages. It holds more media than the compact format, extending subculture intervals and reducing the frequency of transfers — a meaningful advantage in commercial propagation operations where labor cost is a primary consideration.
Best for: General-purpose plant micropropagation, shoot elongation, rooting stage culture, orchid and bulb propagation, and standard GA-7 replacement protocols.
B3120 — 4.75 x 4.75 x 4.75 in. | 10/Pack — $74.36
The B3120 is the largest format in the MTC Bio plant culture box line, designed for applications where the GA-7 footprint simply isn't enough. The significantly larger interior volume accommodates more media — reducing subculture frequency for slow-growing or long-term maintenance cultures — and provides horizontal and vertical space for bulbous species, large-stemmed monocots, and species with broad leaf canopies that would otherwise make contact with vessel walls in a standard-size box. It's also well suited for multi-plant cultures where several explants or plantlets are grown in the same vessel, such as clump propagation and bulb cluster development protocols.
Best for: Large explants and plantlets, bulbous species, broad-canopy species, multi-plant clump propagation, high-capacity cultures requiring extended subculture intervals, and species that outgrow standard GA-7 vessels.
Key Features — All Three Sizes
All MTC Bio plant tissue culture boxes share the same material construction and performance characteristics:
- Clear polycarbonate vessel — maximum visual clarity for monitoring culture status without opening the lid
- Polypropylene lid — secure fit maintains controlled culture conditions
- Autoclavable — withstands repeated sterilization cycles at 121°C, 15 psi without warping or loss of clarity
- Reusable — durable construction supports multiple culture cycles, reducing per-use cost
- Distributed by LIGHT LABS — in stock and ready to ship
Which Size Is Right for Your Lab?
| Cat # | Dimensions | Qty/Pack | Price | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| B3075 | 3 x 3 x 3 in. | 25/pack | $93.75 | Small explants, embryo rescue, high-throughput screening |
| B3100 | 3 x 3 x 4 in. | 25/pack | $98.43 | General purpose, GA-7 replacement, shoot elongation, rooting |
| B3120 | 4.75 x 4.75 x 4.75 in. | 10/pack | $74.36 | Large explants, bulbous species, multi-plant cultures |
Browse the full MTC Bio plant tissue culture box lineup at LIGHT LABS in our Plant Tissue Culture category, or contact us at sales@lightlabsusa.com or 1-800-286-3103 with questions about sizing, quantities, or compatibility with your specific application.