Modifications of floral development in tobacco induced by fusion of protoplasts of different male-sterile cultivars

Abstract

Protoplasts derived from different cytoplasmic male-sterile cultivars of Nicotiana tabacum were fused. Nearly 200 cybrid calli were regenerated into plants and their flower morphologies were examined. Most cybrids exhibited parental-type male-sterile morphologies. Some, however, showed novel male-sterile phenotypes or phenotypes which combined traits of both male-sterile parents in a new combination. Others were restored to fertility, with stamens which produced functional pollen.