Engineering high-frequency apomixis with normal seed production in hybrid rice
Minglei Song,
Fei Li,
Zhen Chen,
Haonan Hou,
Yu Wang,
Huixia Liu,
Di Liu,
Junzhou Li,
Ting Peng,
Yafan Zhao,
Yanxiu Du,
Hongzheng Sun,
Changqing Du,
Jing Zhang,
Quanzhi Zhao,
Chunbo Miao
Affiliations
Minglei Song
Henan Key Laboratory of Rice Molecular Breeding and High Efficiency Production, College of Agronomy, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou 450046, China; Institute of Advanced Biotechnology and School of Medicine, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen 518055, China
Fei Li
Henan Key Laboratory of Rice Molecular Breeding and High Efficiency Production, College of Agronomy, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou 450046, China
Zhen Chen
Henan Key Laboratory of Rice Molecular Breeding and High Efficiency Production, College of Agronomy, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou 450046, China
Haonan Hou
Henan Key Laboratory of Rice Molecular Breeding and High Efficiency Production, College of Agronomy, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou 450046, China
Yu Wang
Henan Key Laboratory of Rice Molecular Breeding and High Efficiency Production, College of Agronomy, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou 450046, China
Huixia Liu
Henan Key Laboratory of Rice Molecular Breeding and High Efficiency Production, College of Agronomy, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou 450046, China
Di Liu
Henan Key Laboratory of Rice Molecular Breeding and High Efficiency Production, College of Agronomy, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou 450046, China
Junzhou Li
Henan Key Laboratory of Rice Molecular Breeding and High Efficiency Production, College of Agronomy, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou 450046, China
Ting Peng
Henan Key Laboratory of Rice Molecular Breeding and High Efficiency Production, College of Agronomy, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou 450046, China
Yafan Zhao
Henan Key Laboratory of Rice Molecular Breeding and High Efficiency Production, College of Agronomy, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou 450046, China
Yanxiu Du
Henan Key Laboratory of Rice Molecular Breeding and High Efficiency Production, College of Agronomy, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou 450046, China
Hongzheng Sun
Henan Key Laboratory of Rice Molecular Breeding and High Efficiency Production, College of Agronomy, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou 450046, China
Changqing Du
Henan Key Laboratory of Rice Molecular Breeding and High Efficiency Production, College of Agronomy, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou 450046, China
Jing Zhang
Henan Key Laboratory of Rice Molecular Breeding and High Efficiency Production, College of Agronomy, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou 450046, China
Quanzhi Zhao
Henan Key Laboratory of Rice Molecular Breeding and High Efficiency Production, College of Agronomy, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou 450046, China; College of Agriculture, Guizhou University, Guiyang 550025, China; Corresponding author
Chunbo Miao
Henan Key Laboratory of Rice Molecular Breeding and High Efficiency Production, College of Agronomy, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou 450046, China; Corresponding author
Summary: Clonal reproduction through seeds, also termed apomixis, has the potential to revolutionize agriculture by allowing hybrid crops to be clonally propagated. Although apomixis has been introduced into rice through de novo engineering in recent years, the poor fertility and low-frequency clonal reproduction of synthetic apomicts hinder the application of apomixis in crop breeding. Here, in elite hybrid rice, we generated many apomicts, which produced clonal progeny with frequencies of > 95.0% and had high even normal fertility through combining enhanced rice BABYBOOM1 (BBM1)-induced parthenogenesis with the simultaneous inactivation of PAIR1, REC8, and OSD1. These synthetic apomicts maintained the agronomic traits of the elite hybrid rice. Our results indicate that fertility-normal hybrids with high penetrance of apomixis can be generated in rice, thereby laying an important foundation for the application of synthetic apomixis in crop breeding.
