Plant breeding concepts

1. Plant breeding concepts ABT-320 Dr. Rabia Amir Lecture 11

2. AUTOPOLYPLOIDY BREEDING • Autopolyploidy is the condition in which the same genome (x) is present in an organism more than two times. • Autotriploid (3x) and autotetraploid (4x) plants are important in plant breeding.

3. AUTOPOLYPLOIDY BREEDING • Autotriploids possess three identical sets of chromosomes. • Autotriploidy occurs naturally in low frequency. • They can be produced by crossing an autotetraploid (4x) with a diploid of the same species (2x). • They are usually sterile and non-seed producing. • Examples: Fruit crops like banana, apple, grape, watermelon etc. • Autotetraploids (4x) possess four copies of the same genome. • They may arise spontaneously or can be induced by doubling the chromosomes of diploid species by colchicine treatment. • Examples of autotetraploid crops are rye, groundnut, potato and coffee.

4. ALLOPOLYPLOIDY BREEDING • Allopolyploids are polyploids in which more one genome are present. An allotetraploid is otherwise called amphidiploid because it contains two genomes twice (X1X1 + X2X2). • Natural allopolyploid crop plants: They develop in nature spontaneously. Breadwheat (Triticum aestivum) (2n = 6x = 42) is an allohexaploid with three genomes.

5. PRODUCTION OF ARTIFICIAL ALLOPOLYPLOIDS • It can be done by interspecific and intergeneric crosses and subsequent chromosome doubling has been carried out with different levels of success. Chromosome doubling is usually affected by treating the diploids with a chemical known as colchicine. • It is applied in concentrations ranging from 0.01% to 0.5%. • It is applied to growing tips, meristematic cells, seeds and buds in aqueous solutions. Duration of treatment varies from 24 hours to 96 hours depending upon the plant species.

6. COLCHIPLOIDY • Colchicine induced polyploidy is known as colchiploidy. • It induces polyploidy by inhibiting spindle formation during cell division. • Chromosomes do not get segregated at the time of meiosis, resulting in the production of diploid gametes, which on fusion give rise to polyploid plants.

7. Triticum durum (4X) x Secale cereale (2X)AABB RRABR F1(3X): EMBRYO RESCUECHROMOSOME DOUBLING HEXAPLOID TRITICALE (6X)AABBRR

8. APPLICATIONS OF ALLOPOLYPLOIDY BREEDING • Allopolyploids can be used to produce new crop species, for interspecific gene transfer and for bridge crosses. • Many artificial allopolyploids have been synthesized in different crops. • Tetraploid species of wheat and cotton have been produced artificially by interspecific hybridization and induction of amphiploids.

9. RAPHANOBRASSICA • Raphanobrassica is the first example of intergeneric hybridization in plants. • This was developed in 1927 by crossing radish (Raphanus sativus, n = 9) with cabbage (Brassica oleracea, n =9). • An amphiploid was developed by hybridization and chromosome doubling. • He could not combine the agronomical characters of the crops. • The hybrid had the roots of cabbage and leaves of radish. • However, this experiment proved the feasibility of intergeneric hybridization.

10. TRITICALE • Another significant example of intergeneric hybridization followed by polyploidization is the synthesis of the new cereal triticale. • Triticale is a man-made cereal produced by crossing wheat with rye. • Triticale combines the winter hardiness and high protein content of rye with the bread making quality of wheat. • Hexaploid and octoploid triticales have been developed in this way.

11. ANEUPLOIDY BREEDING Aneuploids are organisms that show monosomy, nullisomy, trisomy, tetrasomy, etc. They are not directly useful in crop improvement, but they can be used indirectly in different ways. Applications of aneuploidy breeding Some of the major uses include locating genes through monosomic and nullisomic analyses and interspecific gene transfer. Other uses include developing alien additi- on lines and alien substitution lines of crop and analysis of chromosomal aberrations.

12. DISTANT HYBRIDIZATION • Distant hybridization or wide crossing is the mating between distantly related individuals. • Sexual or somatic cells may be involved in this fusion. • When fusion takes place between somatic cells, it is called parasexual hybridization. • Distant hybridization may be of two types:

13. INTERSPECIFIC HYBRIDIZATION • Hybridization between two species of the same genus usually takes place by sexual fusion. • It is usually practiced to transfer desirable genes from wild species of plants to cultivated species. • Interspecific crosses help in introgressive hybridization which is the transfer of some genes from one species into the genome of another species.

14. INTERSPECIFIC HYBRIDIZATION • Interspecific crosses may be fully fertile, partially fertile or sterile. E.g., wheat 6X × 4X. • Fertility level of interspecific crosses depends on the homology of chromosomes in the parental species. • In the case of sterile crosses, amphidiploidy is induced with colchicine and the fertility is restored.

15. INTERGENERIC HYBRIDIZATION • This refers to crosses between two different genera of the same family. Such crosses are not commonly used in crop improvement. • Intergeneric crosses can be used when the desirable genes are not present in the same genus, but they are present in allied genera.

16. INTERGENERIC HYBRIDIZATION • F1 hybrids of this type of crosses are always sterile. However, they can be made fertile by chromosome doubling. • Intergeneric hybridization has been used successfully in the development of the synthetic cereal, for example, triticale.

17. TECHNIQUES TO MAKE WIDE CROSSES SUCCESSFUL MANIPULATION OF PLOIDY SELECTION OF PLANTS RECIPROCAL CROSSES Reciprocal cross may be attempted when one parental combination fails. Diploidization of solitary genomes to make them paired, to make the cross fertile. The most compatible parents available should be selected for the crosses.

18. USE OF POLLEN MIXTURE MANIPULATION OF PISTIL BRIDGE CROSSES When two parents are incompatible, a third parent that is compatible with both the parents can be used for bridge crosses and thus it becomes possible to perform cross between the original parents. Unfavorable interaction between pollen and pistil in the case of wide crosses can be overcome to some extent by using pollen mixture. Decapitation of the style will sometimes prove helpful in overcoming incompatibility.

19. EMBRYO RESCUE PROTOPLAST FUSION USE OF GROWTH REGULATORS Hybrid zygotes formed by wide crosses may fail to grow in a number of cases. The zygotes are taken out and grown in in vitro medium to overcome this problem. Pollen tube growth can be accelerated by using growth hormones like IAA, NAA, 2,4-D and Gibberellic acid. When fusion of gametes fails, protoplast fusion of somatic cells can be attempted.

20. PROBLEMS ASSOCIATED WITH WIDE CROSSES • Cross Incompatibility • Hybrid Inviability • Hybrid Sterility • Hybrid breakdown

21. ROLE OF WIDE CROSSES IN CROP IMPROVEMENT • Wide crosses are generally used to improve crop varieties for disease resistance, pest resistance, stress resistance, quality, adaptation, yield etc. • These crosses can even be used to develop new crop species. • Techniques like alien addition and alien substitution may also be effective.

22. ROLE OF WIDE CROSSES IN CROP IMPROVEMENT ALIEN ADDITION ALIEN SUBSTITUTION Addition of chromosomes of a wild species (foreign species) to the normal compliments of a cultivated species. Replacement of one pair of chromosomes of a cultivated species with those of a wild donor species. Effective Techniques

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