asynchronous developments pose limitation for its wider application. But, understanding the molecular mechanism of somatic embryo development may help in overcoming these limitations and assist commercial exploitation of this phenomenon. Proteins are mainly responsible for the biological function and phenotype of the cells 10,11. Proteomic approach has been considered as a powerful tool for examining the physiological condition of plant tissues, and organs, under specific developmental processes 12. Since proteins are directly involved in cellular biochemistry, identification of proteins related to the embryo development may reveal the molecular basis of SE 13. Research on the development of somatic embryo has been carried out over three decades, but most of the studies focused on physiological aspects and improvement of culture practice. More recently efforts have been put forth to examine the process of somatic embryo development at the molecular level. Proteomic analysis of different developmental stages of embryos were carried out in many commercial crops like Citrus sinensis Osbeck 13 , Coffea arabica 1,14 , Oryza sativa 10 , Manihot esculenta 15 , Picea glauca 16 , Carica papaya L. 9 , Cyclamen persicum 17 , Araucaria angustifolia 18 , Fraxinus mandshurica 2 and Acca sellowiana 4. Most of the study revealed that the formation and development of somatic embryos follow complex metabolic process and involve many proteins that are associated with the growth and developmental pathway. Understanding the molecular basis of somatic embryo development along with signaling pathways can provide insight into the growth and developmental process. Therefore, the study on proteomic analysis of somatic embryo development in Musa spp. cv. Grand Naine (AAA) was carried out with the main objective to examine and characterize the differential proteins expressed during various developmental stages of somatic embryo. The determination of differential protein expression will provide a novel insight into banana somatic embryo development and helps in the improvement of SE protocols in recalcitrant banana varieties. Materials and Methods plant materials and sample collection. The embryogenic cell suspension (cell line accession no: NGFB0189) generated from male flower bud of cv. Grand Naine (AAA) as per the procedure described by Kumaravel et al. 7 was used as an initiating material. After checking the viability of six months old embryogenic cell suspension using fluroscein diacetate (FDA) stain, one mL settled cell volume (SCV) of fine yellowish white homogenous suspension was plated on the somatic embryo regeneration medium. This was supplemented with 80 µg/L kinetin, 200 µg/L napthaleneacetic acid and 40 µg/L zeatin, as suggested in INIBAP technical guidelines 19 and maintained in complete darkness at 25 ± 2 °C for 60 days. Five plates of somatic embryos were used as replication. Embryos were collected in triplicates at 0, 30, 45 and 60 days after initiation of embryogenic cells on the regeneration medium. Samples collected were...