Plant Regeneration from Protoplasts of <i>Trifolium repens</i> and <i>Lotus corniculatus</i>

Abstract

Abstract Protoplasts were isolated from leaves of Lotus corniculatus and Trifolium repens and from cotyledons of L. corniculatus. These protoplasts divided and produced colonies. The plating efficiency of protoplasts of both species was improved when agarose was used as a supporting medium. Plants were regenerated more regularly and in larger numbers from colonies of L. carniculatus than T. repens. The use of a culture line of T. repens that had been selected for its response in culture markedly increased the proportion of protoplast‐derived cultures which regenerated shoots. One regenerant of T. repens (P6) was analysed for morphological and cytalogical variation. This plant was abnormal and highly aneuploid with a wide range of chromosome numbers.