Production of somatic hybrids between Daucus carota L. and Nicotiana tabacum

Protoplasts of a kanamycin-resistant (KR, nuclear genome), streptomycin-resistant (SR, chloroplast genome) and chlorophyll-deficient (A1, nuclear genome) Nicotiana tabacum (KR-SA) cell suspension cultures or X-ray-irradiated mesophyll protoplasts of kanamycin- and streptomycin-resistant green plants (KR-SR) were fused with protoplasts of a cytoplasmic male-sterile (CMS) Daucus carota L. cell suspension cultures by electrofusion. Somatic hybrid plants were selected for kanamycin resistance and the ability to produce chlorophyll. Most of the regenerated plants had a normal D. carota morphology. Callus induced from these plants possessed 23–32 chromosomes, a number lower than the combined chromosome number (66) of the parents, and were resistant to kanamycin, but they segregated for streptomycin resistance, which indicated that N. tabacum chloroplasts had been eliminated. Genomic DNA from several regenerated plants was analyzed by Southern hybridization for the presence of the neomycin phosphotransferase gene (NPTII); all of the plants analyzed were found to contain this gene. Mitochondrial (mt) DNA was analyzed by Southern hybridization of restriction endonuclease digests of mtDNA with two DNA probes, PKT5 and coxII. The results showed that the two plants analyzed possessed the mitochondria of D. carota. These results demonstrate that the regenerated plants are interfamilial somatic hybrids.     

Somatic hybridization of Nicotiana tabacum and Petunia hybrida

Summary Leaf mesophyll protoplasts of a nitrate reductase deficient streptomycin resistant mutant of Nicotiana tabacum were fused with cell suspension protoplasts of wild type Petunia hybrida. Somatic hybrid cell colonies were selected for streptomycin resistance and nitrate reductase proficiency. Six independent cell lines, capable of growth in selection medium, were analysed by electrophoresis of callus peroxidases and leucine aminopeptidases and also by hybridization with rDNA and a chloroplast encoded gene as molecular probes. The results show that all six lines represented nuclear somatic hybrids, possessing the chloroplast of N. tabacum, at an early stage of development. However, after 6–12 months in culture, genomic incompatibility was observed resulting in the loss of most of the tobacco nuclear genome in the majority of the cell lines. One of the latter cell lines regenerated plants which possessed the chloroplast of N. tabacum in a predominantly P. hybrida nuclear background.     

Combination of kanamycin resistance and nitrate reductase deficiency as selectable markers in one nuclear genome provides a universal somatic hybridizer in plants

Summary The combination in the nuclear genome of a dominant resistance marker (to select against unfused wild-type cells) and a recessive deficiency marker (to select against unfused mutant cells) in a cell line should provide a system for selecting fusion hybrids between the mutant line and any wild-type line. To test this idea, we fused protoplasts from a non-morphogenic cell line of Nicotiana tabacum which was kanamycin resistant (by transformation) and deficient in nitrate reductase (NR^-K⁺) with protoplasts from N. tabacum cv. Petit Havana clone SR1, which provided resistance against streptomycin as an additional selectable marker (NR⁺K^-SR⁺). Putative hybrids were selected using a culture medium containing no available reduced nitrogen source and 50 mg/l kanamycin sulphate. After regeneration into plants, the hybrid character was demonstrated from: (i) the morphological variation of the regenerants; (ii) the chromosome number; (iii) the ability to grow on medium without a reduced nitrogen source and containing kanamycin sulphate at 50 mg/l; (iv) the presence of nitrate reductase activity; (v) the presence of the gene coding for neomycin phosphotransferase, which provides resistance to kanamycin sulphate; (vi) callus formation from leaves on medium containing 1 g/l streptomycin or 50 mg/l kanamycin sulphate; (vii) F₁ plants containing nitrate reductase and the gene for neomycin phosphotransferase. Fusions between the mutant cell line (NR^-K⁺) and three wild-type tobacco species and subsequent cultivation on medium containing no available nitrogen source but 50 mg/l kanamycin sulphate resulted in callus formation with all combinations, while hybrid plants were only regenerated when N. sylvestris was the fusion partner.     

Cybridization in Nicotiana tabacum L. using double inactivation of parental protoplasts and post-fusion selection based on nuclear-encoded and chloroplast-encoded marker genes

An effective selection system preceded by double inactivation of parental protoplasts was used to transfer Nicotiana suaveolens Leh. cytoplasmic male sterility into a commercial tobacco (N. tabacum L.) breeding line. Mesophyll protoplasts from transformed plants of N. tabacum cultivar WZ2-3-1-1 possessing a neomycin phosphotransferase II gene were used as the nuclear donors, while those isolated from N. suaveolens plants carrying a chloroplast mutation for resistance to spectinomycin, induced using nitrosomethyl urea, were the cytoplasm donors in somatic cybridizations. Prior to fusion, nuclear donor protoplasts were inactivated with iodoacetamide or rhodamine 6G, while those of the cytoplasm donor were inactivated by X-irradiation. The resultant microcalli were cultured on a shoot regeneration medium containing both kanamycin and spectinomycin to select cybrids. Only regenerants that had typical characteristics of the N. tabacum cultivar were selected for transfer to the glasshouse. Four putative cytoplasmic male-sterile (CMS) plants, out of a total of 44 regenerated plants transferred to the glasshouse, were obtained. Intraspecific somatic transfers of the CMS trait between N. tabacum cultivars with distinctlydifferent morphologies using single inactivation and nonselective shoot regeneration medium were demonstrated. The implications of the results for practical tobacco breeding as a means of circumventing lengthy backcrossing procedures are discussed.     

Somatic hybridization by microfusion of defined protoplast pairs in Nicotiana: morphological,genetic, and molecular characterization

Summary Somatic hybrid/cybrid plants were obtained by microfusion of defined protoplast pairs from malefertile, streptomycin-resistant Nicotiana tabacum and cytoplasmic male-sterile (cms), streptomycin-sensitive N. tabacum cms (N. bigelovii) after microculture of recovered fusants. Genetic and molecular characterization of the organelle composition of 30 somatic hybrid/cybrid plants was performed. The fate of chloroplasts was assessed by an in vivo assay for streptomycin resistance/ sensitivity using leaf explants (R₀ generation and R₁ seedlings). For the analysis of the mitochondrial (mt) DNA, species-specific patterns were generated by Southern hybridization of restriction endonuclease digests of total DNA and mtDNA, with three DNA probes of N. sylvestris mitochondrial origin. In addition, detailed histological and scanning electron microscopy studies on flower ontogeny were performed for representative somatic hybrids/cybrids showing interesting flower morphology. The present study demonstrates that electrofusion of individually selected pairs of protoplasts (microfusion) can be used for the controlled somatic hybridization of higher plants.Abbreviations ac alternate current - BAP benzyl aminopurine - cms cytoplasmic male sterile - dc direct current - NAA naphthalenacetic acid - SEM scanning electron microscopy     

Metabolic complementation for a single gene function associated with partial and total loss of donor DNA in interspecific somatic hybrids

Summary We report here on the obtainment of interspecific somatic, asymmetric, and highly asymmetric nuclear hybrids via protoplast fusion. Asymmetric nuclear hybrids were obtained after fusion of mesophyll protoplasts from a nitrate reductase-deficient cofactor mutant of N. plumbaginifolia with irradiated (100 krad) kanamycin resistant leaf protoplasts of a haploid N. tabacum. Selection for nitrate reductase (NR) and/or kanamycin (Km) resistance resulted in the production of three groups of plants (NR⁺, NR⁺, Km^R, and NR^-Km^R). Cytological analysis of some hybrid regenerants showed the presence of numerous tobacco chromosomes and chromosome fragments, besides a polyploid N. plumbaginifolia genome (tetra or hexaploid). All the regenerants tested were male sterile but some of them could be backcrossed to the recipient partner. In a second experiment, somatic and highly asymmetric nuclear hybrids were obtained after fusion of mesophyll protoplasts from the universal hybridizer of N. plumbaginifolia with suspension protoplasts of a tumor line of N. tabacum. Selection resulted in two types of colonies: nonregenerating hybrid calli turned out to be true somatic hybrids, while cytological analysis of regenerants obtained on morphogenic calli did not show any presence of donor-specific chromosomes. Forty percent of the hybrid regenerants were completely fertile, while the others could only be backcrossed to the recipient N. plumbaginifolia. Since the gene we selected for is not yet cloned, we were not able to demonstrate the transfer of genetic material at the molecular level. However, since no reversion frequency for the nitrate reductase mutant is known, and due to a detailed cytological knowledge of both fusion partners, we feel confident in speculating that intergenomic recombination between N. plumbaginifolia and N. tabacum has occurred.     

Rare symmetric and asymmetric Nicotiana tabacum (+) N. megalosiphon somatic hybrids recovered by selection for nuclear-encoded resistance genes and in the absence of genome inactivation

Following protoplast fusion between Nicotiana tabacum (dhfr) and N. megalosiphon (nptII) somatic hybrids were selected on the basis of dual resistance to kanamycin and methotrexate. Despite strong selection for parental nuclear-encoded resistances, only nine N. tabacum (+) N. megalosiphon somatic hybrids were obtained. A preferential loss of the parental N. tabacum nuclear and organelle genome was apparent in some plants in spite of the lack of genomic inactivation by the irradiation or chemical treatment of the parental protoplasts. Only six of the nine hybrids recovered possessed both parental profiles of nuclear RFLPs and isoenzymes. The remaining three hybrids were highly asymmetric with two being identical to N. megalosiphon except for minor morphological differences and rearranged or recombined mitochondrial DNAs (mtDNA), while the other one was distinguishable only by the presence of a rearranged or recombined mtDNA, and was therefore possibly a cybrid. Overall, eight somatic hybrids possessed rearranged or recombined mtDNAs and chloroplast inheritance was non-random since eight possessed N. megalosiphon-type chloroplasts and only one had N. tabacum chloroplasts. In contrast, using the same selection approach, numerous morphologically similar symmetric somatic hybrids with nuclear RFLPs and isozymes of both the parental species were recovered from control fusions between N. tabacum and the more closely related N. sylvestris. In spite of the low frequency of recovery of symmetric N. tabacum (+) N. megalosiphon hybrids in this study, one of these hybrids displayed a significant degree of self-fertility allowing for back-crosses to transfer N. megalosiphon disease-resistance traits to N. tabacum. Plant Research Centre Contribution No. 1579     

Somatic hybrid plants of Nicotiana glauca and Nicotiana tabacum obtained by protoplast fusion

Somatic hybrid plants were produced by fusion of protoplasts from cell cultures of the Nicotiana tabacum L. sulfur mutant Su/Su and from leaf mesophyll of Nicotiana glauca Graham. After fusion the N. glauca protoplasts failed to survive under the selected culture condition. From the hybrid cells light green shoots were produced. The hybrid plants exhibited intermediate characters between parental species with respect to leaf morphology, trichome density, floral structure and flower color. The chromosome number of 25 hybrid plants was 2n = 72 and both N. glauca and N. tabacum chromosomes were identified in the hybrids. Results of isoenzyme analysis showed bands of both parents and a specific (hybrid) band for aspartate amino-transferase. Small subunit fraction-1-protein of somatic hybrids also consisted of the sum of N. glauca and N. tabacum bands. Leaf spot formation associated with the Su locus of N. tabacum was observed in somatic hybrids.     

Spontaneous extensive chromosome elimination in somatic hybrids between somatically congruent species Nicotiana tabacum L. and Atropa belladonna L.

Summary Mesophyll protoplasts of the kanamycin-resistant nightshade, Atropa belladonna, were fused with mesophyll protoplasts of the phosphinothricin resistant-tobacco, Nicotiana tabacum. A total of 447 colonies resistant to both inhibitors was selected. Most of them regenerated shoots with morphology similar to one of the earlier obtained and described symmetric somatic hybrids Nicotiana + Atropa. However, three colonies (0.2%) regenerated vigorously growing tobacco-like shoots; they readily rooted, and after transfer to soil, developed into normal, fertile plants. Unlike their tobacco parental line, BarD, the obtained plants are resistant to kanamycin [they root normally in the presence of kanamycin (200 mg/1)] and possess activity of neomycin phosphotransferase (NPT II) with the same electrophoretic mobility as the one of the nightshade line. According to Southern blot hybridization analysis carried out with the use of radioactively labeled cloned fragments of the Citrus lemon ribosomal DNA repeat, as well as with Nicotiana plumbaginifolia genus-specific, interspersed repeat Inp, the kanamycin-resistant plants under investigation have only species-specific hybridizing bands from tobacco. Cytological analysis of the chromosome sets shows that plants of all three lines possess 48 large chromosomes similar to Nicotiana tabacum ones (2n = 48), and one small extra chromosome (chromosome fragment) similar to Atropa belladonna ones (2n = 72). Available data allow the conclusion that highly asymmetric, normal fertile somatic hybrids with a whole diploid Nicotiana tabacum genome and only part (not more than 2.8%) of an Atropa belladonna genome have been obtained without any pretreatment of a donor genome, although both these species are somatically congruent.     

Improved expression of streptomycin resistance in plants due to a deletion in the streptomycin phosphotransferase coding sequence

Summary Previous studies have shown that a chimeric streptomycin phosphotransferase (SPT) gene can function as a dominant marker for plant cell transformation. The SPT marker previously described by Jones and co-workers has a limited value since it conferred a useful level of resistance only to a fraction (10%) of Nicotiana plumbaginifolia transgenic lines. Expression of resistance was species specific: no such resistant transformants were found in N. tabacum. In this paper we describe an improved SPT construct that utilizes a mutant Tn5 SPT gene. The mutant gene, SPT ^*, encodes a protein with a two amino acid deletion close to its COOH-terminus. In N. tabacum cell culture the efficiency of transformation with the improved streptomycin resistance marker was comparable to kanamycin resistance. When the chimeric SPT ^* gene was introduced linked to a kanamycin resistance gene, streptomycin resistance was expressed in most of the transgenic N. tabacum lines.     

A Lactuca universal hybridizer, and its use in creation of fertile interspecific somatic hybrids

A Lactuca sativa cv. Ardente line heterozygous for a gene encoding resistance to kanamycin, a positive and dominant trait, was crossed with cv. Girelle, which is heterozygous for a recessive albinism marker. The resulting seeds yielded 25% albino seedlings, of which 50% were also resistant to kanamycin. Such plantlets (KR, a) grown in vitro were used for preparation of universal hybridizer protoplasts, since green buds that can develop on kanamycin containing-medium should result from fusion with any wild-type protoplast. To test the practicability of this selection scheme, we fused L. sativa KR, a protoplasts with protoplasts derived from various wild Lactuca as well as various other related species. Protoplast-derived cell colonies were selected for resistance to kanamycin at the regeneration stage. Green buds were regenerated after fusion with protoplasts of L. tatarica and of L. perennis. So far, 9 interspecific hybrid plants have been characterized morphologically. In addition, random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) analysis with selected primers confirmed that these plants are indeed interspecific hybrids. Some plants are female-fertile and production of backcross progenies with L. sativa is in progress. Since many desirable traits such as resistances to viruses, bacteria and fungi (Bremia lactucae) have been characterized in wild Lactuca species, the use of somatic hybridization in breeding programmes now appears a practical possibility.     

Detection of the Nicotiana rustica chloroplast genome coding for the large subunit of Fraction I protein in a somatic hybrid in which only the N. tabacum chloroplast genome appeared to have been expressed

Nine plants were produced from anthers of a somatic hybrid which had been obtained by fusion of Nicotiana tabacum L. and N. rustica L. protoplants. As determined by electrofocusing, the Fraction I protein of the original somatic hybrid had largesubunit polypeptides exclusively of the N. tabacum type. Two of the plants regenerated from anthers contained Fraction-I-protein large subunits exclusively of the N. rustica type. Since each plant was regenerated from a single cell, the somatic hybrid must have had cells containing both the N. tabacum and N. rustica chloroplast genome although the latter was not expressed. Possibilities to account for this non-expression of a chloroplast genome in the somatic hybrid are discussed.     

The production of fertile,triploid somatic hybrid plants (Nicotiana glutinosa (n) + N. tabacum (2n)) via gametic: somatic protoplast fusion

Summary The fusion of gametic protoplasts with somatic protoplasts giving rise to gametosomatic hybrid plants was investigated. Gametosomatic hybrid plants were regenerated following the fusion of nitrate reductase deficient (Nr^–) Nicotiana tabacum Nia-130 leaf mesophyll protoplasts with N. glutinosa tetrad protoplasts. The resulting plants were confirmed as hybrids, based on leaf and floral morphology, chromosome number, leaf esterase and leaf callus peroxidase zymograms and Fraction-1-protein analysis. The five gametosomatic hybrid plants had the expected pentaploid, but functionally triploid chromosome number of 3n=5x=60. The relevance of triploid gametosomatic hybrids in facilitating limited gene transfer, is discussed. The utilisation of tetrads as a generally available source of haploid protoplasts for fusion studies is proposed.     

Morphological and cytological characteristics of somatic hybrids of Nicotiana tabacum L. (+) N. megalosiphon Heurk. et Müll

Summary Somatic hybrid plants of Nicotiana tabacum (bar) (+) Nicotiana megalosiphon (npt II) were recovered after polyethylene glycol (PEG) mediated fusion. Hybrid calluses were selected on the basis of their dual resistance to bialaphos and kanamycin or UV inactivation of the donor species (Nicotiana megalosiphon) protoplasts. The hybrid nature of the individual clones obtained was confirmed by AFLP analysis. An array of plants were recovered including self-fertile hybrid plants with N. tabacum or N. megalosiphon phenotype, self-sterile plants with N. tabacum habit, leaf and intermediate flower morphology, self-sterile plants with N. megalosiphon habit, abnormal leaves and intermediate flowers, and self sterile plants of N. megalosiphon type with abnormal characters. Viable pollen was observed in hybrid plants from the third group. The hybrids possessed a nuclear DNA content near that of the diploid tobacco or N. megalosiphon, and also near that of the tetraploid genome size of N. megalosiphon. The results provide evidence for nonpreferential loss of one of the parental genomes and spontaneous asymmetrization of hybrid plants. The present study shows that by means of somatic hybridization a great genetic diversity in the hybrid clones can be achieved.     

Asymmetric hybridization between Nicotiana tabacum and N. repanda by donor recipient protoplast fusion: transfer of TMV resistance

Summary Genetically asymmetric hybrids were recovered by fusion of Nicotiana tabacum protoplasts with irradiated protoplasts of kanamycin-resistant, nopalineproducing plants of N. repanda. Hybrid calli were selected by culture on media containing kanamycin and were regenerated. These plants were morphologically similar to N. tabacum but produced nopaline, indicating they retained genes from N. repanda. Esterase isozyme profiles also indicated that the plants are somatic hybrids, but are more similar to N. tabacum than N. repanda. Chromosome counts showed most of the hybrids had 55–62 chromosomes, which is consistent with extensive, although incomplete elimination of N. repanda chromosomes. The hybrids were largely male sterile, but about half of them set seed when crossed with N. tabacum. Chromosome numbers of the progeny and the pattern of inheritance of kanamycin resistance indicated the continued elimination of N. repanda genetic material in these backcrosses. The N. repanda parent used in these fusions gave a hypersensitive response to TMV, whereas the N. tabacum parent was TMV sensitive. When inoculated with TMV, plants from two hybrid clones gave a hypersensitive response. Plants from the other clones became systemically infected with the virus.     

Non-random chloroplast segregation inNicotiana tabacum (+)N. rustica somatic hybrids selected by dual nuclear-encoded resistance

Nicotiana tabacum (+)N. rustica interspecific somatic hybrids were produced by fusion of leaf mesophyll protoplasts of transgenic methotrexate-resistantNicotiana tabacum L. with leaf mesophyll protoplasts of transgenic kanamycin-resistantN. rustica L. Somatic hybrids were selected on the basis of resistance to both methotrexate and kanamycin. Evidence for nuclear hybridization was obtained for 21 hybrids by restriction-fragment-length-polymorphism (RFLP) analysis using a heterologous wheat nuclear ribosomal-DNA (rDNA) probe and by analysis of glutamate-oxaloacetate transaminase (GOT) isoenzymes. Chloroplasts segregated non-randomly as 20 of the somatic hybrids possessedN. rustica chloroplasts and only one hadN. tabacum chloroplasts. Patterns of mitochondrial inheritance were examined by hybridization of a heterologous wheat cytochrome oxidase subunit II (coxII) gene with genomic DNA of the somatic hybrids. Four somatic hybrids with hybridization patterns similar toN. rustica and 17 with hybridization patterns consistent with mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) rearrangement or recombination were obtained. None of the somatic hybrids had patterns ofcoxll hybridization identical withN. tabacum. Male-fertility levels in the hybrids ranged from undetectable to 87% and only nine hybrids produced a limited amount of viable seed. There was no apparent correlation between the patterns of organelle inheritance in the somatic hybrids and the relative degree of fertility.Contribution No. 1439 Plant Research CentreCurrent address: Plant Biotechnology Institute, National Research Council, 110 Gymmasium Road, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan S7N OW9, Canada     

An improved procedure for protoplast microelectrofusion and culture of Nicotiana tabacum intraspecific somatic hybrids: plant regeneration and initial proofs on organelle segregation

Somatic hybrids were produced between haploid Nicotiana tabacum L. cv. Petite Havana (wild type) and haploid streptomycin resistant (SR1) mutant by an improved version of microelectrofusion of preselected pairs of protoplasts and the culture of fusion products in a nurse culture. Resistance of diploid plants regenerated from 20 somatic hybrid clones was tested at low concentration of streptomycin in the light as well as at high concentrations of streptomycin in the dark. In two independent hybrid lines, plants resistant in the light but sensitive in the dark were found. The existence of this plant type indicates a segregation of chloroplasts and mitocondria in somatic hybrid clones. It is suggested that microelectrofusion of preselected pairs of protoplasts combined with a reliable nurse culture might be a good technique for controlled somatic hybridization, cell reconstitution and partial gene transfer to different plant species. It might also be used to follow and analyse organelle segregation in somatic hybrid clones. The possibility that mitochondria might be resistant to streptomycin in the SR1 mutant is also discussed.     

Streptomycin and lincomycin resistances are selective plastid markers in cultured Nicotiana cells

Summary Resistance to streptomycin and lincomycin in plant cell culture is used as a color marker: resistant cells are green whereas sensitive cells are white on the selective medium. Streptomycin and lincomycin at appropriate concentrations do not kill sensitive Nicotiana cells. The selective value of plastid ribosomal DNA mutations, conferring resistance to streptomycin and lincomycin, was investigated by growing heteroplastidic cells on a selective medium. The heteroplastidic cells were obtained by protoplast fusion, and contained a mixed population of streptomycin resistant plastids from the N. tabacum line Nt-SR1-Kan2, and lincomycin resistant plastids from the N. plumbaginifolia line Np-LR400-Hyg1. Clones derived from protoplast fusion were selected by kanamycin and hygromycin resistance, transgenic nuclear markers. Somatic hybrids were then grown on a selective streptomycin or lincomycin medium, or in the absence of either drug to a 50 to 100 mg size callus. Southern analysis of a polymorphic region of plastid DNA (ptDNA) revealed that somatic hybrids grown on streptomycin contained almost exclusively ptDNA from the streptomycin resistant parent, somatic hybrids grown on lincomycin contained almost exclusively ptDNA from the lincomycin resistant parent whereas somatic hybrids grown in the absence of either drug contained mixed parental plastids. Sensitive ptDNA was below detection level in most clones on selective medium, but could be recovered upon subsequent culture in the presence of the appropriate drug. The drugs streptomycin and lincomycin provide a powerful selection pressure that should facilitate recovery of plastid transformants.     

Expression of nuclear and chloroplastic genes coding for fraction-1 protein in somatic hybrids of Nicotiana tabacum + rustica

In the sexual interspecific cross, Nicotiana rustica L.xN. tabacum L., N. rustica can serve as the female but not as the male parent. By fusion of protoplasts, the barrier to fertilization was overcome and somatic hybrids containing N. tabacum cytoplasm were produced as shown by isoelectric focusing of the Fraction-1 protein (F-1-protein). All somatic hybrids displayed polypeptides of the large subunit of F-1 protein (which is coded by the chloroplast genome) characteristic of only one or the other parental species. Two hybrids had large subunits of the N. tabacum type and two hybrids had those of the N. rustica type. Three hybrids contained three smallsubunit polypeptides (coded by the nuclear genome), one being characteristic of N. rustica, one characteristic of N. tabacum, and one with an isoelectric point common to both species. A fourth hybrid contained only two small-subunit polypeptides of the N. tabacum type but in a F-1 protein macromolecule whose large subunits were of the N. rustica type. One somatic hybrid was self-fertile and its F₂ progeny contained large- and small-subunit polypeptides indistinguishable in their isoelectric points from those in the parent F₁ hybrid. All somatic hybrids showed an aneuploid chromosome number and morphological characteristics intermediate between those of N. rustica and N. tabacum.     

Transformation of Nicotiana tabacum,N. debneyi,and N. rustica: Inheritance and protoplast expression of antibiotic resistance

Agrobacterium tumefaciens strains harbouring plasmid vectors pBCAT1, pVU1011 or pMON806 were used to transform leaf explants of Nicotiana tabacum cultivars Delgold and Candel, N. debneyi, and N. rustica var. NRT. Transgenic plants resistant to the selective agents kanamycin, hygromycin or methotrexate were regenerated and used as sources of leaf mesophyll protoplasts. Protoplasts divided and regenerated plants in the presence of selective agents at levels inhibitory to protoplasts of non-transformed plants. Cross-resistance of protoplasts to more than one selective agent was not observed in this study which suggests that this approach may lead to an efficient interspecific somatic hybrid selection system.