Isolation and culture of strawberry protoplasts and field evaluation of regenerated plants

Abstract Protoplasts are an useful biotechnological tool for plant improvement. In strawberry, very few studies on protoplast technology have been carried out. In this investigation, a procedure for the isolation and culture of strawberry protoplasts, cv. ‘Chandler’, has been developed. The effect of several factors affecting the successful isolation of protoplasts and formation of microcalli, e.g. explant source, washing procedure, hormonal composition of the culture medium and protoplast density, were evaluated. For shoot regeneration, microcalli derived from isolated protoplasts were transferred to MS medium supplemented with 0.2 mg l −1 NAA and either 5 mg l −1 BA or 3 mg l −1 TDZ, obtaining a similar regeneration rate, 17%, in both media. Twenty-one independent protoclones were transferred to field conditions for agronomic evaluation. Significant alterations in the growth habit, density of foliage, leaf color and leaf morphology were detected in some lines. Fruit yield was significantly reduced in 15 out of the 21 protoclones evaluated due to a reduction in fruit weight and/or the number of fruits. Ploidy level was unaffected in a sample of 6 lines selected at random; however, a study of genetic stability by using 10 EST-SSR markers showed genetic alterations in all the lines analyzed. Despite the high rate of somaclonal variation detected in the protoclones, some of the lines displayed an agronomical behavior similar to control plants, indicating that this protocol could be useful for genetic improvement in this species.