Isolation of Mesophyll Protoplasts from Mediterranean Woody Plants for the Study of DNA Integrity under Abiotic Stress.

Abiotic stresses have considerable negative impact on Mediterranean plant ecosystems and better comprehension of the genetic control of response and adaptation of trees to global changes is urgently needed. The single cell gel electrophoresis (SCGE) assay could be considered a good estimator of DNA damage in an individual eukaryotic cell. This method has been mainly employed in animal tissues, because the plant cell wall represents an obstacle for the extraction of nuclei; moreover, in Mediterranean woody species, especially in the sclerophyll plants, this procedure can be quite difficult because of the presence of sclerenchyma and hardened cells.