Cytoplasts: Isolation and Uses

Abstract

During the production and handling of protoplasts, a variety of plasmalemmabound fragments may be produced. These fragments contain a portion of the cytoplasm and may or may not contain the nucleus (see Figs. 1-4). Enucleate plasmalemma-bound protoplast fragments have been observed in protoplasts preparations from explants of Pisum sativum leaves (Wallin et al. 1978), Allium cepa epidermis (Bradley 1978; Bracha and Sher 1981), Brassica oleracea cotyledons (Vatsya and Bhaskaran 1981), Lycopersicon esculentum fruits (De and Swain 1983), and Brassica napus hypocotyls (Spangenberg 1985; Spangenberg and Schweiger 1986; Spangenberg et al. 1986). Enucleate membrane-bound protoplast fragments form when protoplasts are derived from elongated unicellular filaments including Funaria hygrometrica protonema (Gwozdz and Waliszewska 1979), Nicotiana and Hyoscyamus muticus pollen tube cells (Lörz and Potrykus 1980a) and Gossypium hirsutum fibers (Gould et al. 1986). Enucleate membrane-bound protoplast fragments have also been produced from protoplasts derived from suspension cultured cells of Nicotiana tabacum, N. sylvestris, Daucus carota (Wallin et al. 1978), Zea mays, H.muticus (Lörz et al. 1981), Nicotiana plumbaginifolia (Hoffmann 1981), Solanum nigrum (Lesney et al. 1983), Parthenocissus tricuspidata, Psophocarpus tetragonolobus (Fakhrai and Evans 1986), Lycopersicon peruvianum, L.penelli, Petunia hybrida, and Solanum lycopersicoides (Tan 1987).