SOMATIC HYBRID PLANT REGENERATION BETWEEN NAVEL ORANGE AND LEMON VIA PROTOPLAST ELECTRO FUSION

Protoplasts isolated from cell suspension cultures of ‘Newhall' navel orange (Citrus sinensis (L.) Osbeck) were electrically fused with mesophyll protoplasts of ‘Eureka' lemon (Citrus limon (L.) Burm.f.).One plantlet was regenerated after 8 months of culture.Morphological observation,chromosome counting and RAPD analysis confirmed that this plant was allotetraploid somatic hybrid.This somatic hybrid will be utilized as possible pollen parent for breeding of seedless triploid lemon cultivars.