Regeneration of Mesophyll Protoplasts Isolated from Dihaploid Clones of Solanum tuberosum

Protoplasts have been isolated from leaves of shoot cultures of six dihaploid clones of Solanum tuberosum L. (2n = 2x = 24). In the KM medium (Kao and Michayluk 1975), sustained cell divisions were obtained in up to 50% of the plated protoplasts of four clones, whereas only a few divisions occurred in the other two clones. The first mitosis appeared 2–8 days after plating, dependent on the clones. In the clones showing sustained cell divisions, a protoplast titre of about 5 × 10³ per ml turned out to be optimal. The culture conditions for protoplasts of one of the poorly growing clones, clone H² 140, have been improved using modified KM media, plating at a concentration of as high as 5 × 10⁴ cells per ml, and subsequent diluting at intervals 5 days. The dilutions were carried out with media containing 0.25% agar. Up to 60% of the plated protoplasts underwent divisions within 10 days under these conditions. After about 15 days, the regenerants were transferred onto media inducing organogenesis. Shoots and roots were formed on modified media MS (Murashige and Skoog 1962) and B5 (Gamborg et al. 1968). Plants have been regenerated in four of the investigated clones. Countings of chromosomes revealed a satisfactory stability of the karyotype in shoot culture and protoplast regeneration.