Conditions favouring doubled haploid breeding over conventional breeding of self-fertilizing crops

Summary Monte Carlo computer simulation was used to investigate the conditions favouring doubled haploid breeding over conventional breeding of self-fertilizing crops. Two different systems of doubled haploid breeding and three systems of conventional breeding were compared for two criterion parameters, i.e., the probability of obtaining desirable genotypes and the expected genetic advance of selected lines. It was inferred that the efficiency of production of haploid and doubled haploid plants primarily determines the success of the doubled haploid breeding method. In doubled haploid breeding, about 1/5, hopefully 1/2 as many test plants need to be raised as in conventional breeding to achieve the same level of success. With this condition begin satisfied, the doubled haploid breeding method can efficiently be used when one or more of the following conditions are met: (i) a relatively small number of loci, presumably ten of less, is involved with the breeding objective concerned, (ii) desirable alleles are recessive to undesirable ones at most, if not all, of the segregating loci, and (iii) the genes are not strongly linked. It was confirmed that the doubling of haploids can better be applied to selected F₂ plants rather than to F₁ plants.     

Developing high oleic acid in Guizotia abyssinica (L.f.) Cass. by plant breeding

Oleic acid content was increased from approximately 5–11% to 80–86% in Guizotia abyssinica (L. f.) Cass. materials from Ethiopia after repeated selection and breeding. Achenes collected from Ethiopia were screened for elevated oleic acid content by half seed technique. The starting materials for breeding were nine plants selected from among 272 seeds analysed and having an average oleic acid content of approximately 21% which is considered to be high compared with the 5–11% reported earlier for niger materials of Ethiopian origin. It was observed that the oleic acid content steadily increased after each round of selection and breeding. The percent oleic acid in the seed oil increased to an average of 35.2% and 53.4% after the first and second round of breeding, respectively and ultimately to over 80% after the third round of breeding. It was also observed that the percent oleic acid in the oil stabilizes and the plants breed true when the oleic acid content in the parental seeds was above 79%.     

Recurrent selection programs for white clover (Trifolium repens L.) using self-compatible plants. I. Selection of self-compatible plants and inheritance of a self-compatibility factor

Summary When white clover plants were self-pollinated, 75% of a 143-plant population did not set seed. Plants which did set small numbers of seed probably did so as a result of pseudo-self-compatibility. One highly self-compatible plant was selected from the breeding materials. The S₂ progeny of this plant was autogamous and genetically fixed for morphology and isozyme patterns. Genetic analyses of self-compatibility were conducted as far as the F₃ progeny. It was concluded from these data that self-compatibility was inherited in a simple Mendelian way and that plants homozygous for self-compatibility were obtained. There was no correlation between presence or absence of self-compatibility and growth vigor. The possibility of application of self-compatible plants to recurrent selection procedures is outlined and the utilization of self-compatible plants in white clover breeding programs is discussed.     

Properties of maternal haploid maize plants and potential application to maize breeding

Summary Presented are the results of a two-year study of haploid maize plants in the field. The haploids were produced with the aid of inducer line ZMS. In total, 604 and 1030 haploids were obtained and studied in the first and second years, respectively. Tassels of haploid plants were found to be almost completley sterile. Fertility of ears was studied by pollinating them with the pollen from diploid inbred lines, the cross resulting in almost all of the haploid ears carrying kernels. On average 27.4 kernels per ear of haploid plant were obtained in the first year of study and 26.3 in the second. These gave rise to normal diploid plants. This property allows genotypes selected at the level of haploid plants to be involved in breeding process. Unusual plants were found among haploids, phenotypically resembling homozygous lines. It was assumed that the plants had resulted from spontaneous chromosome doubling in haploids. The results of comparative studies of progenies of unusual plants and inbred lines derived from the same synthetic population are presented.     

Main Achievements of Cotton Large-scale Transformation System

Cotton large-scale transformation methods system was established based on innovation of cotton transformation methods.It obtains 8000 transgenic cotton plants per year by combining Agrobacteriurn turnefaciens-mediated,pollen-tube pathway and biolistic methods together efficiently.More than 1000 transgenie lines are selected from the transgenic plants with molecular assistant breeding and conventional breeding methods.     

Selection for non-branching in castor, Ricinus communis L.

A 5-year selection programme was conducted to obtain an unbranched type of castor plant suitable for efficient mechanical harvesting. Each population (S_n) consisted of several progenies obtained from the selfed main raceme of unbranched plants selected in the previous generation (S_n-1). After self-fertilization of all individuals, selection was conducted in the autumn, at the end of the cycle, so as to have fully developed plants. Unbranched plants were counted in each generation. Comparisons between populations showed significant differences owing to increased recovery of the selected phenotype over the generations. The final population could be useful as a source for the development of improved cultivars in future breeding programmes.     

Inheritance of anther-culture response in perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.)

Genetic control of the capacity to respond to anther culture in perennial ryegrass was studied in F₁ offspring from crosses between 11 clones selected for anther-culture response (‘inducers’) and 10 clones selected from breeding material on the basis of good agronomic performance. Large differences in anther-culture response were observed between the two types of parent, with inducer clones producing an average of 10.7 green plants per 100 anthers, compared with only 0.3 for breeding clones. Hybrid populations produced an average of 2.2 green plants per 100 plated anthers, which is 7.3 times the response of the breeding material. This improvement was mainly due to a 9.4-fold increase in the percentage of green plants regenerated from hybrid populations to 4.7% compared to an average of 0.5% from breeding clones. Most of the GCA (general combining ability) in the experiment was contributed by the breeding material, constituting 55.8, 100.0 and 36.7% of genetic variation among hybrids for embryo formation, regeneration and green plant percentage, respectively. Any remaining genetic variation among hybrids was predominantly due to SCA (specific combining ability) effects, with percentages of 44.2 and 63.3%, respectively, for embryo and green plant formation. These results are discussed with respect to the possible exploitation of genes controlling anther-culture response for haploid production in breeding programmes of perennial ryegrass.     

水稻恢复系选育的轮回选择法及其应用效果研究

利用野败型细胞质雄性不育性作为遗传工具,进行水稻恢复系的轮回选择。试验证明：（1）由于构建基础群体时,加入了一定比例具有保持系性质的常规品种,以及在后续世代中,不断将经过后裔测验,证实在主要恢复基因位点上均为杂合型的中选可育株种子返回群体,给不育株授粉,因而保证了每轮次轮回选择群体内不育株比例基本稳     

Cooperative breeding for the northern marginal areas

Summary A joint breeding project for the northern areas of Scandinavia and Iceland was initiated in 1981 under the auspices of the Nordic Council of Ministers. Initially, efforts concentrated on cooperative trials in which both early and more advanced breeding material was tested at a number of experimental stations in the northern regions. This was followed by a joint breeding programme for timothy with the primary aim of developing varieties that possess broad adaptation to a range of Nordic climates and managements and can be grown throughout the northernmost part of Scandinavia. Each of the five national breeding stations originally provided 12 timothy genotypes for the project giving a total of 60 genotypes. The parental genotypes were compared as spaced plants at all five stations and their polycross progeny were grown under sward conditions at the same sites. On the basis of results obtained from these field trials parent clones have been selected and intercrossed to form synthetic populations.     

Forage yield potential of alfalfa plants of varying crown size from old stands

Alfalfa (lucerne) plants can persist from one growing season to the next because of their perennial crowns. Plants with large crowns often are selected for breeding purposes. The objective of this study was to determine the forage yield potential of plants with a full range of crown sizes sampled from old stands. This was accomplished by field evaluation of clones and S₁ progenies derived from plants of different crown sizes obtained from a 1 m² of 5-year-old stands of cultivars ‘Agate’ and ‘Magnum III’. Significant differences (P < 0.05) in dry forage yield (DFY) were found among entries in both tests. However, there was no consistent trend in DEY with respect to the crown size of the parental plants. Although the crown of space-planted clones dug after 16 months showed a strong association (r > 0.7, P < 0.01) with DFY, the crown size of these clones was poorly correlated with the crown size of their parental plants. These results suggest that selections based on crown size from older stands may not lead to an improvement in either crown size or forage yield. Crown health will remain an important selection criterion when plants are sampled from old stands; crown size, however, may not be as important.     

Temperature related instability of a naturally induced cytoplasmic male sterility in industrial chicory (Cichorium intybus L.)

Natural alloplasmic cytoplasmic male sterile (CMS) clones of industrial chicory were obtained after crossing wild chicory with selected breeding lines. We investigated the CMS stability of 10 clones in various environmental growing conditions. CMS was stable under cool growing conditions in most of them. Fertility restoration, based on pollen production scores, was observed in all clones after a period of hot temperatures. The early flower bud stage was sensitive, resulting in fertile flowers 12–17 days after exposure to high temperatures. Experiments under controlled growing conditions at 15°C demonstrated that a heat shock of 2 days at 25 or 30°C was sufficient to restore fertility. Sterile flowers were formed when plants were again grown at lower temperatures. Significant differences between individual clones were observed, indicating the potential of genetic selection to obtain stable CMS parent lines.     

Variability of Yield Characters and Selection in Solanum ladniatum Ait.

The steroid bearing medicinal plant, S. laciniatum, was bred for high solasodine yield for commercial cultivation in Thailand. Starting materials for breeding consisted of seven populations of different origin. Variability among these populations was examined using an unselected control population cultivated over three years. Additive and dominance variance were estimated from a polycross and diallel mating design. Significant genotypic variability was found for solasodine concentration, height of the plants, and total shoot length, promising successful selection for the most important yield characters. Additive variance and heritability in the narrow sense were low for all yield characters, due to previous selection of the parental plants used for the polycross and diallel mating. No dominance effects could be found for any of the characters. In conclusion, breeding S. laciniatum for quantitative yield characters by selection will be superior to hybrid breeding. As a result of selection, significant increases in the most important yield characters in the offspring of selected populations were obtained.     

Haploid plantlet screening in the development of blackleg resistant DH lines of Brassica napus

This study was conducted to expedite disease-resistance breeding in canola by screening haploid plants against blackleg disease. Microspore-derived haploid plantlets from 14 unrelated crosses were inoculated with Leptosphaeria maculans pycnidiospores and were rated as resistant, intermediate or susceptible. Blackleg-inoculated and control haploid plants were then colchicine-treated to produce doubled haploid (DH) lines. The DH lines thus produced were again screened against blackleg using the cotyledon bioassay. In general, the proportion of the resistant DH lines derived from selected resistant haploid plants was much higher than the proportion of resistant DH lines from control haploid populations. There was no detrimental effect on the survival of haploid plants after the combined treatment of blackleg inoculation and colchicine. The importance of the micro-environment on the final outcome of plant-pathogen interaction in case of non-obligate pathogens is also discussed.     

Inheritance of spineless leaves in Aechmea (Bromeliaceae)

Bromeliaceae are tropical ornamentals with a variety of colors and inflorescence shapes. Leaves with spined margins are characteristic for the genus Aechmea. Crosses between spineless and spined Aechmea cultivars were attempted in order to obtain a spineless offspring. Crossing spined and spineless genotypes resulted in a progeny with on average 50% spineless plants. The hybrids of two spineless plants had on average 75% spineless leaves. This indicated that the spineless character was dominant. Homozygous plants were selected; these plants are interesting for further breeding and propagation by seed. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Inheritance of rol-genes from Agrobacterium rhizogenes through two generations in Kalancho?

Transformation of Kalancho? blossfeldiana ‘Molly’ using the naturally occurring bacterium Agrobacterium rhizogenes is a non-GMO strategy to breed compact plants. In the present study, crosses resembling a commercial breeding strategy were made to determine if the improved ornamental quality observed in the T1 generation was inherited to the offspring. F1 lines were produced by crossing the commercial Kalancho? cultivar ‘Sarah’ with a selected T1 line. Subsequently, F2 populations were produced by self-pollination of individual selected lines. The rol-genes were inherited to the progeny and the presence of rol-genes was confirmed in all F1 and many F2 plant lines exhibiting dwarfism. Screening of F1 and F2 plants showed that the rol-genes were inherited together. Besides decreased plant height, several F1 and F2 lines containing rol-genes exhibited changes in plant diameter, number of branches, flower diameter and time to first open flower and duration of flowering compared to the WT ‘Molly’. Furthermore, increased ethylene tolerance was observed in several lines containing rol-genes compared to the WT ‘Sarah’. Screening of three selected F2 populations derived from self-pollination of F1 lines containing rol-genes indicated a shift in distribution towards a lower mean plant height within the entire plant population compared to a control population of plants without rol-genes. Moreover, one of these F2 populations also exhibited earlier flowering compared to the control population. Compact potted plants and lines without delayed flowering and with improved ethylene tolerance were obtained and are valuable in commercial breeding programmes without using recombinant DNA technology.     

兰花选育种研究进展

兰科植物为单子叶植物中最大的一个科。全国各地极其重视资源的调查、收集与驯化及其外来品种的引进；已有17个种的兰花种子成功运用超低温技术贮存；染色体分析技术及分子标记成为资源评价的重要手段，应用于研究兰科植物的亲缘关系及其遗传多样性这两方面的研究报道较多。兰花育种以传统的人工杂交为主，通过人工杂交已获得大量种间、属间杂交种；多倍体育种方法及生物技术作为辅助手段应用于兰花育种，获得了多倍体植株及转基因植株。     

应用RNA沉默技术获取抗黄瓜花叶病毒(CMV)和烟草花叶病毒(TMV)转基因烟草

RNA沉默是迄今最为有效的抗病毒策略,利用该策略不但能获得免疫转基因植株,且所得植株不易与其他病毒基因重组或异源包壳、生物安全性较高。将本实验室已构建的携带有烟草花叶病毒(TMV)部分移动蛋白基因(ΔMP)和黄瓜花叶病毒(CMV)部分复制酶基因(ΔRep)反向重复结构的植物表达载体pBIN438-MP-Rep(i/r),用农杆菌浸润法转化普通烟草品种K326,共得196株转化植株,经卡那霉素筛选和PCR检测发现128株为阳性转基因株;PCR-Southern和RT-PCR分析表明外源基因已整合到烟草基因组并在转录水平上得到表达;ELISA结果显示20.3%的转基因植株对CMV和TMV复合侵染表现免疫性。本结果为利用RNA沉默技术进行植物抗多种病毒育种提供重要数据,为防治其他多种病毒复合侵染提供借鉴。     

Further results on chromosome stability of hexaploid Triticale

Summary Chromosome variation was studied in bulk populations of 27 advanced strains of hexaploid Triticale. Average frequency of euploids (2n=42) in the 27 strains analyzed was 81.5% with a range from 57.2% to 100.0%. Three strains showed particularly high aneuploid frequency in the bulk population; the average frequency for the three strains was 39.0%, while the mean for the other 24 strains was 14.8%. The progenies of 42-chromosome plants derived from the aforementioned three strains had 89.4% euploids on an average. It is assumed that a monosomic plant was selected in a single-plant (or spike) selection during the breeding period. The frequency of aneuploids is very high, even after several generations of breeding. Routine chromosome checking is recommended in breeding Triticale and other cytologically unstable induced amphiploids.Contribution No. 175 of the Department of Plant Science, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada.     

Selection of regenerative genotypes from highly productive cultivars of alfalfa

Summary Seedlings from Canadian alfalfa cultivars Algonquin and Apica were selected on the basis of ability to regenerate plants from hypocotyl callus. A total of eleven genotypes were selected, resulting in regeneration frequencies of 4.5 and 11.7% for Algonquin and Apica, respectively. Regeneration capacity within these cultivars was also compared with cultivars and breeding lines for which regeneration frequencies have previously been documented. Two genotypes (A1 93 and Ap 20) exhibited prolific embryogenesis from hypocotyl and petiole callus and also regenerated plants from suspension culture. Flowering and seed set have been observed for regenerated plants.