Apomixis: the story of a revolutionary character.
Albertini E.
Author Affiliation: Dipartimento di Biologia Applicata, Università di Perugia, Perugia, Italy.
Georgofili 9 : 77-93
Abstract : Seed is the key factor of crop productivity. The commercial success of a newly selected cultivar depends not only on its vegetative attributes but also on its ability to produce seeds. Breeding for seed yield and quality requires new sophisticated technologies, such as apomixis, that will allow overcoming the conventional breeding limits. Apomixis is a naturally occurring mode of asexual reproduction in flowering plants, resulting in embryo formation without meiosis or fertilization of the egg. Seed derived progenies are genetically identical to the maternal parent. In crop species, apomixis would enable the instantaneous fixation of the complete genome of the best plants. The introduction of apomixis in crop species is one of the key desirable traits since it would allow the fixation of heterosis in F1 hybrids leading to efficient and consistent production of high-quality seeds, fruits, and vegetables. Unfortunately, apomixis does not naturally occur in major crop species (some exceptions are Citrus, mango and mangosteen, which have adventitious embryony). The development of Apomixis Technology (AT) is expected to have a revolutionary impact on food and agriculture production by reducing cost and breeding time, avoiding some complications of sexual reproduction (incompatibility barriers) and of vegetative propagation (viral transfer). It is estimated that AT in the production of hybrid rice alone could provide benefits exceeding Euro 1800 million per annum. The development of AT in agriculture require a deeper knowledge of reproductive development in plants.