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Asexual reproduction in a close relative of Arabidopsis : a genetic investigation of apomixis in Boechera (Brassicaceae)
Author(s) -
Schranz M. Eric,
Kantama Laksana,
De Jong Hans,
MitchellOlds Thomas
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
new phytologist
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.742
H-Index - 244
eISSN - 1469-8137
pISSN - 0028-646X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1469-8137.2006.01765.x
Subject(s) - apomixis , biology , ploidy , polyploid , chromosome , genetics , botany , parthenogenesis , asexual reproduction , sexual reproduction , brassicaceae , genetic analysis , gene , embryo
Summary• Understanding apomixis (asexual reproduction through seeds) is of great interest to both plant breeders and evolutionary biologists. The genus Boechera is an excellent system for studying apomixis because of its close relationship to Arabidopsis , the occurrence of apomixis at the diploid level, and its potentially simple inheritance by transmission of a heterochromatic ( Het ) chromosome. • Diploid sexual Boechera stricta and diploid apomictic Boechera divaricarpa (carrying a Het chromosome) were crossed. Flow cytometry, karyotype analysis, genomic in situ hybridization, pollen staining and seed‐production measurements were used to analyse the parents and resulting F 1 , F 2 and selected F 3 and test‐cross (TC) generations. • The F 1 plant was a low‐fertility triploid that produced a swarm of aneuploid and polyploid F 2 progeny. Two of the F 2 plants were fertile near‐tetraploids, and analysis of their F 3 and TC progeny revealed that they were sexual and genomically stabilized. • The apomictic phenotype was not transmitted by genetic crossing as a single dominant locus on the Het chromosome, suggesting a complex genetic control of apomixis that has implications for future genetic and evolutionary analyses in this group.