SOMACLONAL VARIATION: HAS IT PROVED USEFUL FOR PLANT IMPROVEMENT?

Somaclonal variation involves all forms of variation encountered in tissue culture.
Somaclonal variation has proved to be a serious problem for investigators and propagators who require extreme uniformity.
However, the natural variability associated with tissue culture represents a pool upon which selection pressure can be imposed to isolate unique forms of a clone.
The origins of somaclonal variation have been studied extensively, but remain largely theoretical or unknown.
Some types of somaclonal variation have been transient (epigenetic), whereas others have been either stable through repeated generations of asexual propagation or have proved to be genetically based and inherited in a Mendelian fashion.
Some somclones have been formally introduced as improved types of the original parental clone.
Some of these unique plants will be discussed.

The amount of variation that can be expected in vitro will vary with the clone, age of the clone, use of mutagenic agents, and use of selection pressure applied to single cells for stress conditions such as salt level, herbicides, microorganisms or their byproducts, and specific metabolites.
Somaclonal variation has been reported by so many different researchers working with so many different crops, that is is reasonable to expect somaclonal variation in all tissue culture experiments.
The extent, causes and proven usefulness of somaclonal variation will be discussed during the presentation.

II International Symposium on In Vitro Culture and Horticultural Breeding

Robert M. Skirvin, M. Norton, K.D. McPheeters

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.1993.336.44