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From radiation tests with
pearl millet,. two mutant
plants have resulted that
present the possibility for a
revolution in hybrid seed
production.
Pearl millet is a major
livestock feed crop in the
United States and a human
food crop in many parts of
Asia, Africa, and Europe.
Plant geneticist Wayne W.
Hanna and his colleagues at
the Coastal Plain Ex
periment Station, Tifton, Ga.
have been testing the
response of millet to
radiation in hopes of im
proving the crop as a forage
and food source. The Station
is part of USDA’s
Agricultural Research
Service.
Several mutations were
by products of those tests,
but two in particular show
special promise. 6ne is a
genetic female sterile and
the other a facultative
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Helps Breeders Search for Hybrids
apomict. The two have
started the scientists down
the road toward possibilities
that are, at the very least,
fascinating. Here is that
story.
In general, grasses may
cross with any other plant of
its species or with itself. The
goal in breeding work is to
cross specific plant with only
certain ones serving as the
male and female parents,
therefore these plants need
to be pollinated by hand or
isolated to assure the desired
cross.
In some crops, such as
millet, plant breeders have
been able to develop male
steriles which serve as
female parents to produce
hybrid seed when pollinated
with the intended male
parent plants. The male
parent can still self pollinate
and produce seeds,
therefore, the male and
female parents must be
separated in the seed
production field so the seeds
do not get mixed.
Now a female sterile gene
has been isolated in pearl
millet. With proper genetic
manipulation of the female
sterile gene, it would be
possible to combine seed of
the male parent (female
sterile) and female parent
(cytoplasmic male sterile)
and plant the two parents
together in the seed
producing field. All plants
would be harvested. The
very small percentage of
self-pollinated seed
produced would not affect
yield of pearl millet.
This much alone holds
promise for simplifying seed
production and conserving
and area. But that is just the
beginning.
Pearl millet is one of
several plants known to
exhibit facultative apomixis,
that is, it produces seeds in
two ways; sexually, through
fertilization of an egg from
the female by the sperm
from the male, or apomic
tically, whereby the embryo
develops from vegetative
cells without fertilization of
an egg.
Plants from these latter
seeds are genetically
identical to the parent. If a
high quality hybrid were
produced that was
apomictic, seeds from the
first generation could be
saved to produce a second
generation that was identical
to the parent - with no loss in
hybrid vigor. The same
would be true for the future
generations.
Usually, sexually
produced hybrids have to be
produced each year since
advantages of hybridization
decrease with each suc
ceeding generation.
In the ARS investigations,
Dr. Hanna reports that only
25 percent of the seeds of a
pearl millet mutant were
produced by apomixis. To
get the full advantage in
hybrid production, obligate
(100 percent) apomixis
would be desired. Here the
female sterile trait enters
the picture.
With appropriate crosses,
the female sterile is being
used to eliminate the sexual
tissue in facultative
apomictic plants. Hopefully,
this will encourage the
vegetative cells to produce
an embryo, thus enhancing
apomixis. Appropriate
genetic manipulation would
bring this to the obligate
point.
Apomixis is probably
present in most species or at
least in a related or wild
species. Special efforts
should be made to discover
this valuable plant breeding
tool, Dr. Hanna said.
Being able to grow
“perpetual hybrids” like this
would have great potential,
especially for the developing
nations of the world which
desperately need the ad
ditional yield that high
quality hybrids could
provide. At present the cost
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Lancaster Farming, Saturda
of buying new hybrid seed
each year may be
prohibitive or simply
unacceptable. Using
apomictic hybrids, farmers
could save seed from each
crop to plant the next season
without losing hybrid vigor.
Similar advantages are
also possible for the seed
industry. Each year, seed -
producers must being with
the original parents lines and
produce the hybrids for a
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Jan. 4.1975
new crop. Eliminating
this step would save money
on seed production which
could be passed on to far
mers and consumers, with
the additional potential of
increasing total food sup
plies at the same time.
Apomixis would lessen the
need for highly trained
production people and would
increase the opportunity for
breeders to use superior
gene combination in hybrids.
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