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Publisher Summary Somatic procedures form a well-established technology that has made significant contributions to plant improvement and mass propagation in horticulture, agriculture, and to some extent in forestry, as a means of rapidly multiplying elite varieties or clone. This chapter reviews recent advances in somatic procedures and their applications, including somatic embryogenesis, haploid technologies, protoplast and somatic hybridization, and use of somatic procedures in screening and development of stress-resistant plants. These techniques can be applied to improving plants for ornamental purposes and nutritional quality, and creating unique and highly desirable plants that can meet market demand. Somatic embryogenesis has become one of the most desired pathways in the regeneration of plants via tissue culture because it bypasses the necessity of time-consuming and costly manipulation of individual explants, which is a problem with organogenesis. Two patterns of somatic embryogenesis are recognized: direct embryogenesis, where the embryo develops directly on the explant, and indirect embryogenesis, in which the embryo arises from a callus. Haploid technology is also discussed in this study, which is of significant interest for developmental and genetic research, as well as for plant breeding and biotechnology. Haploid plants are useful in understanding cellular totipotency because they develop from single male or female gametes without fertilization. |
