The culture response of Arabidopsis thaliana protoplasts is determined by the growth conditions of donor plants

Procedures previously established for plant regeneration from mesophyll protoplasts of Arabidopsis thaliana have been optimized. The protoplast plating efficiency (number of microcalli per number of plated protoplasts) is strongly dependent on the growth conditions of the donor plant, especially medium composition and illumination conditions. The yield of microcalli is markedly influenced by the nitrogen source in the protoplast culture medium. The developed procedure gives reproducible plating efficiencies of 7–10%, i.e. 15–20 times higher than previously published (0.5%) for A. thaliana race C24.