**3.1 Indirect somatic embryogenesis in** *Coffea*

In *Coffea*, indirect somatic embryogenesis occurs in two phases, the first is callogenesis followed by embryogenesis that corresponds to the formation of somatic embryos [34, 45, 55–57] (**Figure 4**). Another characteristic of the indirect somatic embryogenesis in this species is the occurrence of somaclonal variation in cloned plants, due to the long time that callus remains *in vitro* [58]. Somaclonal variation is undesirable because it leads to the formation of mutants, which can compromise plant growth and development. On the other hand, its occurrence is desirable to obtain genotypes with genetic variability that can be incorporated into the coffee breeding program [59, 60]. For the induction of explant mutations are cultivated at high concentrations of 2,4 D.

Most studies use the Sondhal and Sharp protocol [34] for the application of indirect somatic embryogenesis in *C. arabica* genotypes and these usually respond with some somatic embryo production even when they have low regenerative capacity.
