Rice callus was treated with 0.56M sucrose solution mixed with 5% pectinase and 10% cellulase, and the protoplasts isolated were transferred to 0.25M sodium nitrate to induce protoplasmic fusion.
Callus tissues were macerated well and degradation of cell walls also proceeded satisfactorily.
When the protoplasts were transferred to sodium nitrate solution, many giant roundish protoplasts and some multilobed complex protoplasmic bodies were observed. Most of the fusions took place immediately after the protoplasts were transferred to sodium nitrate. Some multilobed protoplasts which failed to fuse in the initial stage took longer time, about two hours, to get completely fused and rounded-off.
Multilobed protoplasmic bodies were invariably multinucleate, while giant round protoplasts had either several nuclei or had one nucleus of large size. Nuclear fusion, also, seemed to occur immediately after the protoplasts were transferred to sodium nitrate.
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