Solution: Somatic hybrids are formed by fusing isolated protoplasts from two different plant varieties, each with a desirable characteristic, to produce a hybrid protoplast that can be grown to form a plant in a culture medium; thus, plants obtained through protoplast culture are referred to as somatic hybrids.
Hence, plants obtained by protoplast culture are referred to as somatic hybrids because they are created by fusing the somatic cells of two different plants.