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ARS Home » Plains Area » Fargo, North Dakota » Edward T. Schafer Agricultural Research Center » Cereal Crops Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #287079
Title: Review of doubled haploid production in durum and common wheat through wheat x maize hybridization

Author
item Niu, Zhixia
item JIANG, AIXIANG - Vanderbilt University
item ABUHAMMAD, WESAM - North Dakota State University
item OLADZADABBASABADI, ATENA - North Dakota State University
item Xu, Steven
item MERGOUM, MOHAMED - North Dakota State University
item ELIAS, ELIAS - North Dakota State University

Submitted to: Plant Breeding
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 12/21/2013
Publication Date: 2/14/2014
Citation: Niu, Z., Jiang, A., Abu Hammad, W., Oladzadabbasabadi, A., Xu, S.S., Mergoum, M., Elias, E.M. 2014. Review of doubled haploid production in durum and common wheat through wheat x maize hybridization. Plant Breeding. 133:313-320.

Interpretive Summary: A haploid is an individual with a single gene set formed from a pollen or egg cell while a doubled haploid (DH) is an individual having two gene sets produced when the chromosomes of haploid plants are doubled. Thus, DH plants have complete homozygosity (i.e. the two gene sets are exactly identical). Because the development of DHs from hybrid plants achieves homozygosity in one generation, DH production has become an important methodology to accelerate both breeding and development of mapping populations in crops. The DH production procedure includes two major steps: haploid induction and chromosome doubling. Chromosome doubling of haploid plants has been routinely performed using colchicine, a chemical that disrupts cell division. However, success and efficiency of haploid induction plays the decisive role in successful DH production. In durum and common wheat, haploids can be produced from pollen cells by anther (i.e. pollen-bearing part of flower) culture or by wide hybridization. In recent years, wide hybridization between wheat and maize has become the main approach for haploid production in wheat. Numerous wheat cultivars and mapping populations have been developed using wheat-maize hybridization. In this paper, we review the procedures of DH production of durum and common wheat via wide hybridization with maize, the factors which affect the efficiency of DH production and the mechanism of selective elimination of the maize chromosomes during the early development of the hybrid embryos. We also report a highly efficient protocol for DH production in durum and common wheat, which was established based on the optimal conditions for each of the factors that affect the efficiency of DH production. This protocol has been used to develop over 3,000 DH lines belonging to 12 large mapping populations in durum and common wheat in our wheat germplasm enhancement and durum breeding programs.

Technical Abstract: Production of doubled haploids (DHs) is an important methodology to speed up the process of breeding and development of mapping populations in crops. The procedure for DH production includes two major steps: haploid induction and chromosome doubling. Chromosome doubling of haploid plants has been routinely performed using colchicine. However, success and efficiency of haploid induction play the decisive role in using the DH method to breed and develop mapping populations in many crop species. In durum and common wheat, haploids can be produced in vivo by chromosome elimination after wide hybridization or in vitro by androgenesis (anther and microspore culture). In recent years, wide hybridization between wheat and maize has become a main approach for haploid production in wheat. In this method, the maize chromosomes are completely eliminated during the early development of the hybrid seeds after wheat spikes were pollinated with maize pollen. Numerous wheat cultivars and mapping populations have been developed using wheat-maize hybridization. In this paper, we review the procedures of DH production of durum and common wheat via wide hybridization with maize, the factors which affect the efficiency of DH production, and the mechanism of selective elimination of the maize genome during the early development of the hybrid embryos. We also report a highly efficient protocol for DH production in durum and common wheat, which was established based on the optimal conditions for each of the factors that affect the efficiency of DH production. This protocol has been used to develop over 3,000 DH lines belonging to 12 large mapping populations in durum and common wheat in our wheat germplasm enhancement and durum breeding programs.