Heat shock proteins from cell cultures of higher plants and their somatic hybrids.

The species specificity of heat shock proteins of callus cultures of Nicotiana chinensis, Nicotiana glauca, Nicotiana tabacum, Atropa belladonna, Lycopersicon peruvianum, as well as some somatic hybrids of A. belladonna + N. chinensis, was investigated by means of polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis in the presence of sodium dodecylsulfate. Despite the general similarity of electrophoretic mobility of heat shock proteins from different plants, a number of species-specific differences between the proteins of distantly related genera were found. Heat shock proteins may thus serve as genetic markers in somatic hybridization.