Eight New Somatic Hybrid Citrus Rootstocks with Potential for Improved Disease Resistance

Abstract

Protoplast culture following polyethylene glycol-induced fusion resulted in the regeneration of vigorous tetraploid somatic hybrid plants from eight complementary parental rootstock combinations: Citrus reticulata Blanco (Cleopatra mandarin) + C. aurantium L. (sour orange), C. reticulata (Cleopatra mandarin) + C. jambhiri Lush (rough lemon), C. reticulata (Cleopatra mandarin) + C. volkameriana Ten. & Pasq. (Volkamer lemon), C. reticulata (Cleopatra mandarin) + C. limonia Osb. (Rang-pur), C. sinensis (L.) Osb. (Hamlin sweet orange) + C. limonia (Rangpur), C. aurantium (sour orange) + C. volkameriana (Volkamer lemon) zygotic seedling, C. auruntium hybrid (Smooth Flat Seville) + C. jambhiri (rough lemon), and C. sinensis (Valencia sweet orange) + Carrizo citrange [C. paradisi Macf. × Poncirus trifoliata (L.) Raf.]. Diploid plants were regenerated from nonfused callus-derived protoplasts of Valencia sweet orange and Smooth Flat Seville and from nonfused leaf protoplasts of sour orange, Rangpur, rough lemon, and Volkamer lemon. Regenerated plants were classified according to leaf morphology, chromosome number, and leaf isozyme profiles. All somatic hybrid plants were tetraploid (2n = 4× = 36). One autotetraploid plant of the Volkamer lemon zygotic was recovered, apparently resulting from a homokaryotic fusion. These eight new citrus somatic hybrids have been propagated and entered into field trials.