PROTOPLAST TECHNOLOGY AND TOP-FRUIT TREE BREEDING

This paper summarizes and critically examines recent advances in protoplast technology, as applied to top-fruit trees.
Plants can now be regenerated from cultured protoplasts of several Prunus, Pyrus and Malus genotypes, while electroporation of isolated protoplasts significantly enhances their subsequent cultural responses and coupled with an increased plant regeneration competence for calli derived from such electro-treated protoplasts.
In addition, salt/drought tolerant cell lines and plants can be obtained from explant and protoplast-derived tissues of ‘Colt’ cherry.
Finally, novel, intersubfamilial somatic hybrid top-fruit tree rootstocks were produced through the fusion of mesophyll protoplasts of Pyrus sp. with cell suspension protoplasts of Prunus sp.
This background shows that top-fruit trees are not recalcitrant in terms of culture and regeneration responses from protoplasts.
The impact that biotechnological approaches will have, for the breeding of top-fruit trees, is highlighted.

I International Symposium on In Vitro Culture and Horticultural Breeding

Sergio J. Ochatt

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.1990.280.38