Some approaches to the experimental manipulation of reproductive cells and protoplasts in flowering plants

One recent advance in plant embryology is the experimental manipulation of various reproductive cells and their protoplasts under in vitro conditions. These experimental means may be helpful for understanding the developmental biology of sexual plant reproduction, on one hand, and developing novel methods in biotechnology, on the other. This article reviews a series of our works in this field. The article includes manipulation of pollen protoplasts, de-exined pollen, male gametoplasts and female gametoplasts. Each section starts with isolation of the cells/protoplasts and is followed by further manipulations such as culture, fusion, gene transfer, and also some cell biology studies based on and related to these manipulations.