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Plant Germline Development pp 17–34Cite as

Apomixis: Engineering the Ability to Harness Hybrid Vigor in Crop Plants

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Part of the book series: Methods in Molecular Biology ((MIMB,volume 1669))

Abstract

Apomixis, commonly defined as asexual reproduction through seed, is a reproductive trait that occurs in only a few minor crops, but would be highly valuable in major crops. Apomixis results in seed-derived progenies that are genetically identical to their maternal parent. The advantage of apomixis would lie in seed propagation of elite food, feed, and biofuel crops that are heterozygous such as hybrid corn and switchgrass or self-pollinating crops for which no commercial-scale hybrid production system is available. While hybrid plants often outperform parental lines in growth and higher yields, production of hybrid seed is accomplished through carefully controlled, labor intensive crosses. Both small farmers in developing countries who produce their own seed and commercial companies that market hybrid seed could benefit from the establishment of engineered apomixis in plants. In this chapter, we review what has been learned from studying natural apomicts and mutations in sexual plants leading to apomixis-like development, plus discuss how the components of apomixis could be successfully engineered in plants.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Horticulture Department, NESPAL/University of Georgia-Tifton Campus, 2356 Rainwater Road, Tifton, GA, 31794, USA

    Joann A. Conner & Peggy Ozias-Akins

  2. Institute of Plant Breeding, Genetics and Genomics, University of Georgia-Tifton Campus, Tifton, GA, USA

    Peggy Ozias-Akins

Authors
  1. Joann A. Conner
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  2. Peggy Ozias-Akins
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Correspondence to Joann A. Conner .

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  1. Centre for Organismal Studies, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany

    Anja Schmidt

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Conner, J.A., Ozias-Akins, P. (2017). Apomixis: Engineering the Ability to Harness Hybrid Vigor in Crop Plants. In: Schmidt, A. (eds) Plant Germline Development. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 1669. Humana Press, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-7286-9_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-7286-9_2

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  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4939-7285-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4939-7286-9

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