Assessing Somaclonal Variation in Micro-Propagated Plants: A Comparative Review of Molecular Marker Systems

Unnati Salutgi and N.V. Singh

International Journal of Scientific Research in Science and Technology, 2026, vol. 13, issue 2, 64-74

Abstract: Micro-propagation has expanded globally and has revolutionized the mass production of elite true-to-type plant varieties as a solution for the rising demands of agriculture and forestry. However, there lies an inherent risk of somaclonal variation induced during the in vitro process. Ensuring the regenerants are “true-to-type” is now not only a laboratory requirement but also a critical safeguard for biodiversity and agricultural stability. This review synthesizes the current landscape of molecular marker technologies used for the assessment of clonal fidelity. A comparative analysis is provided for the most widely used marker systems, including Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA (RAPD), Inter-Simple Sequence Repeats (ISSR), Simple Sequence Repeats (SSR), and Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism (AFLP). Furthermore, the review highlights the emerging role of Start Codon Targeted (SCoT) markers and the shift toward Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP) genotyping via Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS) for high-throughput validation. The paper emphasizes the relative strengths, limitations and cost effectiveness of these systems and provides a roadmap for commercial breeders and researchers to select the most reliable diagnostic tools for maintaining the genetic blueprint of the plants.

Keywords: Clonal Fidelity; Micro-propagation; Somaclonal Variation; Molecular Markers; Genetic Stability; SSR; ISSR; SCoT (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://ijsrst.com/home/article/view/IJSRST2613181 Abstract page (text/html)
https://ijsrst.com/home/article/download/IJSRST2613181/IJSRST2613181 Full text (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:etm:ijsrst:v13:y2026:i2:id:1425

DOI: 10.32628/IJSRST2613181

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in International Journal of Scientific Research in Science and Technology from Technoscience Academy
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Pankaj Sharma ().