Somaclonal variation 

is the variation seen in plants that have been produced by plant tissue
culture. Chromosomal rearrangements are an important source of this variation. The term
somaclonal variation is a phenomenon of broad taxonomic occurrence, reported for species of
different ploidy levels, and for outcrossing and inbreeding, vegetatively and seed propagated, and
cultivated and non-cultivated plants. Characters affected include both qualitative and quantitative
traits.
Somaclonal variation is not restricted to, but is particularly common in, plants regenerated
from callus. The variations can be genotypic or phenotypic, which in the latter case can be either
genetic or epigenetic in origin. Typical genetic alterations are: changes in chromosome numbers
(polyploidy and aneuploidy), chromosome structure
(translocations, deletions, insertions and duplications) and DNA sequence (base mutations). A
typical epigenetics-related event would be gene methylation.[1][2]
If no visual, morphogenic changes are apparent, other plant screening procedures must be applied.
There are both benefits and disadvantages to somaclonal variation. The phenomenon of high
variability in individuals from plant cell cultures or adventitious shoots has been named somaclonal
variation.

Disadvantages
A serious disadvantage of somaclonal variation occurs in operations which require clonal uniformity,
as in the horticulture and forestry industries where tissue culture is employed for rapid propagation of
elite genotypes.

 Sometimes leads to undesirable results

 Selected variants are random and genetically unstable
 Require extensive and extended field trials
 Not suitable for complex agronomic traits like yield, quality etc.
 May develop variants with pleiotropic effects.

Reducing somaclonal variation[edit]

Different steps can be used to reduce somaclonal variation. It is well known that increasing numbers
of subculture increases the likelihood of somaclonal variation, so the number of subcultures in
micropropagation protocols should be kept to a minimum. Regular reinitiation of clones from
new explants might reduce variability over time. Another way of reducing somaclonal variation is to
avoid 2,4-D in the culture medium, as this hormone is known to introduce variation.
Plant tissue culture techniques proffer a substitute method of vegetative propagation of
horticultural crops (Krishna et al. 2005; Alizadeh et al. 2010). Clonal propagation through tissue
culture (popularly known as micropropagation) can be realized relatively rapidly within a small
space (Krishna et al. 2008; Eftekhari et al. 2012). The uniformity of individual plants within a
clone population is a major advantage of clonal cultivars in commercial production (Krishna and
Singh 2013). However, genetic variations do occur in undifferentiated cells, isolated protoplasts,
calli, tissues and morphological traits of in vitro raised plants (Bairu et al. 2011; Currais et
al. 2013). In 1981, Larkin and Scowkraft coined a general term “somaclonal variation” for plant
variants derived from any form of cell or tissue cultures.
At present, micropropagated plants, in various crops, such as strawberry, papaya, banana, grapes,
pineapple, citrus, tomato, cucumber, watermelon, rhododendron, orchids, etc., are preferred over
plants propagated through conventional means. However, ever since the first formal report of
morphological variants in sugarcane plants produced in vitro in 1971 (Heinze and Mee 1971),
several instances of somaclonal variations have been reported in different horticultural crops.
The notable example could be banana in which occurrence of off-types from tissue cultured
plantlets ranged from 6 to 38 % in Cavendish cultivars (Sahijram et al. 2003); however, it could
be as high as 90 % (Smith 1988). From the point of commercial micropropagation, variation of
any kind, in particular, genetic variations may be considered obstructive and worthless; since,
such variations may lead to loss of genetic fidelity. However, plant cell and tissue cultures render
increased genetic variability comparatively faster and without applying a sophisticated
technology. This technology holds ample scope in crop improvement of horticultural crops,
which are largely propagated vegetatively, partly, due to reasons like longer juvenile phase as in
perennial fruit crops, occasional inbreeding depression, self and cross incompatibility, narrow
genetic base especially in ornamentals, etc. Further, somaclonal variations require less space and
time for screening of desirable traits in vitro unlike cross seedlings of perennial crops, which
require a great deal of land area and time. Somaclones may itself have numerous applications in
plant breeding and genetic improvements and recovery of such novel variants can be enhanced
by applying suitable in vitro selection pressure (Jain 2001; Lestari 2006).
Application # 1. Rapid Clonal Propagation:
A clone is a group of individuals or cells derived from a single parent
individual or cell through asexual reproduction. All the cells in callus
or suspension culture are derived from a single explants by mitotic
division. Therefore, all plantlets regenerated from a callus/suspension
culture generally have the same genotype and constitute a clone. These
plantlets are used for rapid clonal propagation.

Application # 2. Soma-clonal Variation:

Genetic variation present among plant cells of a culture is called soma-
clonal variation. The term soma-clonal variation is also used for the
genetic variation present in plants regenerated from a single culture.
This variation has been used to develop several useful varieties.

Application # 3. Transgenic Plants:

A gene that is transferred into an organism by genetic engineering is
known as transgene. An organism that contains and expresses a
transgene is called transgenic organism. The transgenes can be
introduced into individual plant cells. The plantlets can be regenerated
from these cells. These plantlets give rise to the highly valuable
transgenic plants.

Application # 4. Induction and Selection of Mutations:

Mutagens are added to single cell liquid cultures for induction of
mutations. The cells are washed and transferred to solid culture for
raising mu ant plants. Useful mutants are selected for further
breeding. Tolerance to stress like pollutants, toxins, salts, drought,
flooding etc. can also be obtained by providing them in culture
medium in increasing dosage. The surviving healthy cells are taken to
solid medium for raising resistant plants.

Application # 5. Resistance to Weedicides:

It is similar to induction of mutations. Weedicides are added to culture
initially in very small concentrations. Dosage is increased in
subsequent cultures till die desired level of resistance is obtained. The
resistant cells are then regenerated to form plantlets and plants.
Plant tissue culture is used widely in the plant sciences, forestry, and in horticulture. Applications
include:

 The commercial production of plants used as potting, landscape, and florist subjects, which
uses meristem and shoot culture to produce large numbers of identical individuals.
 To conserve rare or endangered plant species.[7]
 A plant breeder may use tissue culture to screen cells rather than plants for advantageous
characters, e.g. herbicide resistance/tolerance.
 Large-scale growth of plant cells in liquid culture in bioreactors for production of valuable
compounds, like plant-derived secondary metabolites and recombinant proteins used
as biopharmaceuticals.[8]
 To cross distantly related species by protoplast fusion and regeneration of the novel hybrid.
 To rapidly study the molecular basis for physiological, biochemical, and reproductive
mechanisms in plants, for example in vitro selection for stress tolerant plants.[9]
 To cross-pollinate distantly related species and then tissue culture the resulting embryo
which would otherwise normally die (Embryo Rescue).
 For chromosome doubling and induction of polyploidy,[10] for example doubled
haploids, tetraploids, and other forms of polyploids. This is usually achieved by application
of antimitotic agents such as colchicine or oryzalin.
 As a tissue for transformation, followed by either short-term testing of genetic constructs or
regeneration of transgenic plants.
 Certain techniques such as meristem tip culture can be used to produce clean plant material
from virused stock, such as sugarcane,[11] potatoes and many species of soft fruit.
 Production of identical sterile hybrid species can be obtained.
 Large scale production of artificial seeds through somatic embryogenesis[12]