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Comment
. 2014 Jun 24;111(25):9024-5.
doi: 10.1073/pnas.1407956111. Epub 2014 Jun 16.

Rewiring the wheat reproductive system to harness heterosis for the next wave of yield improvement

Piotr Gornicki  1 , Justin D Faris  2
Affiliations
Comment

Rewiring the wheat reproductive system to harness heterosis for the next wave of yield improvement

Piotr Gornicki et al. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. .
No abstract available

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1.
Fig. 1.
Heterosis (hybrid plant vigor) has not yet been systematically explored and extensively utilized for wheat yield improvement. Only 1% of wheat seeds planted worldwide are hybrid. Bread wheat is an autogamous (self-pollinating) species creating a natural barrier to hybrid seed production. Self-pollination occurs quickly primarily within the same floret (spikelet), pollen is short-lived and is shed before or when the flower starts to open, flowers have closed architecture. As a result, cross-pollination is more than an order of magnitude less frequent than self-pollination. Engineering cross-pollination (allogamy) for hybrid seed production requires modification of the reproductive system: engineering male-sterility of the female crossing partner (self-incompatibility) to prevent self-pollination and fertility restoration required for seed-producing crop plants as well as increased shedding of viable pollen and open flower architecture to allow more efficient cross-pollination. Heterotic pools of preferred crossing partners have to be established. Photograph by Jon Raupp, Kansas State University.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Comment on

  • Split-gene system for hybrid wheat seed production.
    Kempe K, Rubtsova M, Gils M. Kempe K, et al. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2014 Jun 24;111(25):9097-102. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1402836111. Epub 2014 May 12. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2014. PMID: 24821800 Free PMC article.

References

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