Production of Triploid Somatic Hybrids Between Mandarin and Grapefruit through Electrofusion

Production of Triploid Somatic Hybrids Between Mandarin and Grapefruit through Electrofusion

Somatic hybrids were produced by electrofusion between embryogenic callus protoplasts of 'Syougun' mandarin and leaf protoplasts of grapefruit. Hybridity of the two plants was confirmed by leaf morphological characteristics and random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) analysis. The cpDNA analysis using PCR-RFLP could not distinguish those of both parents. These plants showed normal growth and had chromosome number of 27. These unexpected triploid somatic hybrids might be derived from fused cells between diaploid protoplast of embryogenic calli and diploid protoplast of leaf, because polysomaty, a mixture of haploid cells and diploid cells was observed in the lactose medium-pretreated embryogenic calli of 'Syougun' by flow cytomehy analysis.