Doubled Haploids in Plant Breeding

What is a doubled haploid plant?

Cells are the building blocks of plants.
Gene set 1 Gene set 2

A doubled haploid plant has cells containing 2 gene sets which are exactly identical. If one gene set has the disease resistance gene, so will the other.

Gene set 1

Gene set 2

A b tall D e F
disease resistance

A B short d e f
disease susceptibility

A b tall D e F
disease resistance

A b tall D e F
disease susceptibility

Each cell contains 2 sets of genetic information which are almost (but not exactly) identical. For example, one gene set may carry a gene for disease resistance when the other set does not.

How do doubled haploids accelerate breeding?

Plants selected from a conventional breeding population do not breed true. Disease Resistant Selected Plant High Quality Grain Selected Plant Plants selected from a doubled haploid breeding population always breed true. Disease Resistant High Quality Grain

Disease Resistant Progeny: High Quality Grain SELECT Disease Resistant Progeny: High Quality Grain SELECT

Disease Resistant Poor Quality Grain DISCARD Disease Resistant Poor Quality Grain DISCARD

Disease Susceptible High Quality Grain DISCARD Disease Susceptible High Quality Grain DISCARD Disease Resistant High Quality Grain

Disease Susceptible Poor Quality Grain DISCARD Disease Susceptible Poor Quality Grain DISCARD Progeny:

Disease Resistant High Quality Grain

This attribute of doubled haploids allows new cultivars to be released 3 to 5 years earlier than with conventional breeding.

Continue for 10-12 generations until all offspring breed true to type

How are doubled haploids produced?

1. Tissue culture of immature pollen Using tissue culture techniques referred to as anther culture and isolated microspore culture, immature pollen grains can grow to produce colonies of cells. The colonies are transferred to media with different plant growth regulators and sugars to induce growth of shoots and then roots.

pollen

colonies

shoot growth

root growth

A b tall D e F
disease resistance

A b tall D e F
disease resistance

A b tall D e F
disease susceptibility

Pollen has only one set of genetic information (ie. It is haploid)

This genetic information is duplicated in the culture process to produce a doubled haploid.

1.

Crossing with other species When barley is pollinated by the wild barley Hordeum bulbosum, the resulting embryos contain only the barley genes because the Hordeum bulbosum genes are excluded from the embryo. If the embryos are cultured in vitro they will grow into haploid plants.

A b tall D e F
disease resistance

A b tall D e F
disease resistance

A b tall D e F
disease susceptibility

Haploid

Haploid Plant

Doubled Haploid Plant Doubled Haploid

Haploid plants are sterile but can be converted to fertile doubled haploids by treating them with the chemical colchicine. Wheat doubled haploids can be produced in a similar manner if wheat is pollinated with maize.

Doubled haploids:
tools for rapid oat breeding

Benefits
True breeding plants in one generation Potential to produce cultivars 3 years earlier More efficient screening for grain quality and disease resistance

Method