Somatic hybridization in agricultural crops improvement: An environmentally amiable era in biotechnology

Breeders have successfully taken advantage of the species' genetic variability to ameliorate yields further. Significant efforts have been made to increase the current gene pool of crops because the rich variability in a breeding population might not be sufficient for contemporary plant breeding needs and societal requirements. The main contribution of somatic hybridization to plant breeding is overcoming the barriers of sexual crossing and the possibility of transferring foreign genes between different species, genera, and families of plants, leading the field in an environmentally friendly direction and continuing to challenge the mainstream approach to biotechnology. Somatic hybridization refers to the creation of asexual hybrids by the fusion of isolated protoplasts from somatic plant cells, which are known as somatic hybrids. This kind of hybridization can be used only when two concomitant conditions are met: abundant quantities of isolated protoplasts with high vitality proportion and their totipotency. Creating a somatic hybrid includes several stages: search for a suitable explant, isolation of protoplasts, their fusion, plant regeneration, subsequent selection, and identification of somatic hybrid plants. Currently, isolated protoplasts play a crucial role in elucidating our understanding of cell biology, structure, and function of plant cells and tissues as well as in studies of gene transfer and manipulation. It is precious for plants with sexual incompatibility with other species or genera. The successful application of somatic hybridization is mainly due to the transfer of biotic and abiotic stress resistance genes from related species into crops of high economic value, such as potato, eggplant, tomato, citrus fruit, mango, banana, strawberry, wheat, etc. Protoplast fusion allows for unique gene combinations, developing new plant kinds through somatic hybridization.