Parasexual Interspecific Plant Hybridization

Abstract

Interspecific plant hybrids have been produced by parasexual procedures. Protoplasts of Nicotiana glauca and N. langsdorffii were isolated, fused, and induced to regenerate into plants. The somatic hybrids were recovered from a mixed population of parental and fused protoplasts by a selective screening method that relies on differential growth of the hybrid on defined culture media. The biochemical and morphological characteristics of the somatically produced hybrid were identical to those of the sexually produced amphiploid.