Abstract
The terminally differentiated cells in plants, such as pith cells and cortical cells, often exhibit cytological and genetic changes that go unnoticed and do not cause abnormalities in the plant because they do not form part of the germ line cells. However, in cultures these cells may be induced to undergo redifferentiation and express the inherent variability at the whole plant level. Additional variations may be induced by the culture conditions. While some of these variations are transient physiological and developmental changes (e.g., rejuvenation), others are a result of epigenetic changes which can be relatively stable but are not transmitted to the seed progeny. Some other in vitro induced variations are caused by specific genetic changes or mutations and are transmitted to the progeny. The variations recovered from somatic tissue cultures, referred to as somaclonal variation, have been in many cases processes into new improved cultivars of crop plants.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Suggested Further Reading
Alwee SS, van der Linden CG, van der Schoot J, de Folter S, Angenent GC, Cheah SC, Smulders MJM (2006) Characterization of oil palm MADS box genes in relation to the mantled flower abnormality. Plant Cell Tiss Organ Cult 85:331–344
Baer GY, Yemets AI, Stadnichuk NA, Rakhmetov DB, Blume YB (2007) Somaclonal variability as a source for creation of new varieties of finger millet (Eleusine coracana (L.) Gaertn.). Cytol Genet 41:204–208
Giménez C, GarcÃa ED, De Enrech NX, Blanca I (2001) Somaclonal variation in banana: cytogenetic and molecular characterization of the somaclonal variant CIEN BTA-03. In Vitro Cell Dev Biol - Plant 37:217–222
Gostimsky SA, Kokaeva ZG, Konovalov FA (2005) Studying plant genome variation using molecular markers. Genetika 41:480–492
Hwang SC, Ko WH (2004) Cavendish banana cultivars resistant to Fusarium wilt acquired through somaclonal variation. Plant Dis 88:580–588
Jalaja NC, Sreenivasan TV, Pawar SM, Bhoi PG, Garker RM (2006) Co 94012—a new sugarcane variety through somaclonal variation. Sugar Tech 8:132–136
Jaligot E, Rival A, Beulé T, Dussert S, Verdeil J-L (2000) Somaclonal variation in oil palm (Elaeis guineensis Jacq.): the DNA methylation hypothesis. Plant Cell Rep 19:684–690
Katiyar RK, Chopra VL (1995) A somaclone of Brassica juncea is processed into a variety and is released for commercial cultivation in India. Cruciferae Newslett 17:92–93
Larkin P (2004) Somaclonal variation: origin and causes. In: Goodman RM (ed) Encyclopedia of plant and crop science. Marcel Dekker, New York, pp 1158–1161
Larkin PJ, Scowcroft WR (1981) Somaclonal variation: a novel source of variability from cell cultures for plant improvement. Theor Appl Genet 60:197–214
Nehnevajova E, Herzig R, Erismann KH, Schwitzgu′ebel JP (2007) In vitro breeding of Brassica juncea L. to enhance metal accumulation and extraction properties. Plant Cell Rep 26:429–437
Olmos SE, Lavia G, Di Renzo M, Morginski L, Echenique V (2002) Genetic analysis of variation in micropropagated plants of Melia azedarach L. In Vitro Cell Dev Biol - Plant 38:617–622
Sahijram L, Soneji JR, Bollamma KT (2003) Analyzing somaclonal variation in micropropagated bananas (Musa spp.). In Vitro Cell Dev Biol - Plant 39:551–556
Semal J (ed) (1986) Smaclonal variations and crop improvement. Martinus Nijhoff, Dordrecht
Thieme R, Griess H (2005) Somaclonal variation in tuber traits of potato. Potato Res 48:153–165
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2013 Springer India
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Bhojwani, S.S., Dantu, P.K. (2013). Somaclonal Variation. In: Plant Tissue Culture: An Introductory Text. Springer, India. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-81-322-1026-9_12
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-81-322-1026-9_12
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, India
Print ISBN: 978-81-322-1025-2
Online ISBN: 978-81-322-1026-9
eBook Packages: Biomedical and Life SciencesBiomedical and Life Sciences (R0)