Question

Tissue culture is an achievement in plant breeding. What is a somaclone?
Describe the production of somatic hybrid.

Answer 1

Somaclones are the genetically identical plants produced by using the somatic cells or the vegetative parts of the plants through the tissue culture technique.

Somatic hybridization is a process in which the protoplast of two plant species are fused together to form a new hybrid plant. This plant has characteristics of both the plants and is called as a somatic hybrid. The somatic hybrid is formed by selecting the plants with superior traits such as high levels of vitamins and minerals. This results in the production of a hybrid plant with superior characters.