Production of viable cytoplasts from mesophyll derived protoplasts: a tool for plant cell engineering.

Asymmetric somatic hybridisation or "cybridisation" is an useful method for interspecific or intergeneric transfer of cytoplasmically-determined characteristics in plants. In current literature high yelds of cytoplats have been reported only for cell suspension protoplasts, thus genetically variable material. By contrast in the present work we were able to implement a protocol for cytoplast isolation from genetically stable mesophyll protoplasts. Am atrazine resistant biotype of Solanum nigrum has been used in order to perfect this experiment.