| Abstract | Protoplasts are spherical naked plant cells produced by the removal of the cell wall with digestive enzymes (Fig. 1). They are usually derived from either leaf tissue or from cell suspension cultures and have been isolated from a wide variety of plant species. Plant protoplasts can be cultured in defined media and will form a new cell wall, divide, and in many cases regenerate complete plants (e.g. 1, 2, 3, 4). Protoplasts provide a unique experimental system for studies of the structure and function of plant cells. The removal of the cell wall from plant cells, for example, has created new and exciting possibilities for exploring the structure, chemistry and function of the plant plasma membrane. Some of the more important applications in cell biology are listed in Table 1. This table includes only recent selected references and, therefore, does not contain a comprehensive list of relevant literature. |
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