REGENERATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF PLANTS PRODUCED FROM MATURE TOBACCO POLLEN PROTOPLASTS VIA GAMETOSOMATIC HYBRIDIZATION

Mature pollen protoplasts (n) isolated from kanamycin resistant plants of Nicotiana tabacum (2n = 4x = 48) were fused with somatic mesophyll protoplasts (2n) of Nicotiana plumbaginifolia (2n = 20) to produce plants. A total of 3.6.10(6) mature pollen protoplasts were fused with 7.10(6) mesophyll protoplasts using a PEG/Ca2+ method. Mature pollen protoplasts did not divide in our culture conditions, and N. plumbaginifolia protoplasts stopped dividing when the protoplast-derived colonies were transferred to a selection medium containing paromomycine (20 mg.l(-1)). A total of 133 actively growing colonies were recovered on the selection medium containing kanamycin (100 mg.l(-1)). Plants from twenty resulting cell lines were confirmed as hybrids (17) or cybrids (3) based on leaf and floral morphology and fertility analysis. Isozyme pattern analysis confirmed the nuclear hybrid and cybrid nature, respectively, for 2 and 3 typical gametosomatic selected plants. Root tip squashes of 6 of the gametosomatic hybrid plants revealed chromosome numbers ranging from 44 to 68; the 3 selected cybrid plants had 48 chromosomes. Evidence for organelle transmission from the mesophyll partner in the gametosomatic plants is shown. From the analysis it can be concluded that the gametosomatic fusion involving mature pollen protoplasts (n) carrying a dominant selection marker can be convenient for synthesis of either hybrids or cybrids. Such gametosomatic fusion is therefore considered as a new approach towards the production of androgenetic plants with a choosen cytoplasm.