embryogenesis approach. By using somatic embryogenesis, since
1974, significant progress has been made in the propagation of oil
palm through tissue culture [2–7]. Furthermore, the factors influenced
somatic embryogenesis of oil palm such as plant growth
regulators, explants genotypes and molecular mechanisms have
been intensively investigated [8–11] and [12]. At Malaysian Palm
Oil Board (MPOB), generally, conventional oil palm tissue culture
was based on solid media culture. However, the long process
(52–55 months) of solid media culture produced high percentage
(∼10%) of the abnormality of oil palm [13] which was mainly due to
somaclonal variation. Tissue culturists of MPOB have made extensive
improvements, particularly for oil palm suspension cultures
which the oil palm propagation has been reduced as a minimum
as 35 months. With the availability of oil palm suspension cultures
as well as Malaysia is the world largest collection of oil palm
germplasma, the production of new traits or varieties of oil palm
by somatic hybridization using protoplast fusion is the promising
approach. It is postulated the new traits could be obtained less than
five years compared conventional breeding. However, the regeneration
of viable oil palm plants from protoplasts remains a challenge
and there are only a few reports describing the generation of microcalli
from protoplasts.