INHERITANCE OF APOSPOROUS APOMIXIS IN INTERSPECIFIC HYBRIDS DERIVED FROM SEXUAL PASPALUM PLICATULUM AND APOMICTIC PASPALUM GUENOARUM

AGUILERA PM; GALDEANO F; QUARIN CL; ORTÍZ JPA; ESPINOZA F

CROP SCIENCE

CROP SCIENCE SOC AMER

Lugar: Baltimore; Año: 2015 vol. 55 p. 1947 - 1956

0011-183X

Apomictic Paspalum plicatulum and P. guenoarum are promising candidates for forage grass development in tropical regions. From a plant breeding perspective, apomixis provides a unique mechanism for developing superior cultivars and preserving them indefinitely. Therefore, analysis of its inheritance is of great interest in these apomictic species. The objective of this work was to analyze the inheritance and expressivity of apomixis in interspecific families derived from crosses between a sexual colchicine-induced plant of P. plicatulum and an apomictic P. guenoarum plant. One F1, one F2 and three BC populations were created. AFLP markers confirmed the hybrid origin of the F1 descendants. Analysis of the reproductive mode of the F1 by FCSS showed a segregation ratio of 1.6:1 sexual vs. apomictic plants. The same analysis in F2 and BC populations showed that in selfing or crosses involving sexual genotypes all progeny reproduced by sexuality, while BC populations involving apomictic hybrids as pollen donors produced offspring that segregated for the reproductive mode. Apomixis can be transmitted by pollen from P. guenoarum to other species of the Plicatula group, as a simplex (Aaaa) Mendelian dominant factor, and full sexual reproduction requires the homozygous recessive (nulliplex) condition (aaaa) for the apomixis determinant. Results provided here are of interest for breeding apomictic species of Plicatula, and for basic research on the genetic determinants of apomixis. Also, the possibility of creating new apomictic cultivars by traditional breeding methods is presented.