Triploid Breeding

 

 

 Triploid plants have three sets of chromosomes, which have many desirable characteristics like  greater vigour, broad, thick, dark green leaves and larger flowers or fruit, which result in higher yield or higher harvest index and strong stress resistance by preserving relatively larger amounts of photosynthetic energy. Polyploidy occurs in many taxa, is particularly wide­spread in flowering plants and is a prominent feature of the chromosome evolution of higher plants. At least half of the known angiosperm species have experienced polyploidy in their evolutionary history³.

 Because of rapid advances in DNA sequencing technology, triploids may become a focus of genomic research in the future, and will create unprecedented opportunities for discov­ering and monitoring genomic and transcriptomic changes in unbalanced genomes. One of the new trends in genomic research is to create synthetic polyploid plants to provide materials for studying initial genomic responses immediately after polyploid formation⁴.

Triploid plants can also be produced by natural selection, sexual hybridization, endosperm culture in vitro and fusion of somatic diploid protoplasts with haploid microspore cells. There are few reports on protoplast fusion to produce triploid plants, so here we mainly talk about the other three ways to produce triploid plants⁴.

Fatta et al. (2007) made interploid crosses between a natural tetraploid selection of the tangerine ‘Dancy’(D) used as the pollen parent, and two seedy selections of diploid mandarins fortune and wilking (w) and one Clementine (C) used and get 7 triploid plants from D X F cross and 15 triploid plants from D X W cross and and get 33 triploid plants from D X F crosses are sterile genotypes and fetch high price in market².

Chandr et al. (2011) conducted experiment on invitro regeneration of  immature and mature endosperm explants of E. alatus  and has obtained eight independently regenerated triploid plants which are seedless in nature there by reducing the invasiveness of the E. Alatus¹.       

            Triploids can reduce or eliminates the undesirable spread of non-native, invasive crops because they tend to be sterile and seedless. Triploid plants have great economic value and have been useful for developing new agronomic, horticultural, and forestry plant varieties.

 

References:

 

 1.Chandr, T., Mingyang, H., Litang, L., Kaishuang, C., Hao, Y., Yongqin, C.,  Liangtao, T., Junmei, C., Richard, M.,  Donna, E. Z., Yuejin, W., Xian, Z. and Yi, L., 2011, In Vitro Regeneration of Triploid Plants of Euonymus alatus ‘Compactus’ (Burning Bush) from Endosperm Tissues. Hort.Sci., 46(8): 1141–1147.

2. Fatta, B. S., Siragusa, M., Abbate, L., Lucretti, S. and Tusa, N., 2007, Production and     characterization of new triploid seedless progenies for mandarin improvement. Sci. Direct., 114: 258-262.

3. Hieter, P. and Griffiths, T., 1999, Polyploidy – More is more or less, Science. Czech J. Genet. Plant Breed., 285: 210–211.  

4. Xiling, W., Cheng, Z. M.,  Shuang, Z. and Fengxiang, X., 2016, Breeding Triploid Plants: A         Review. Czech J. Genet. Plant Breed., 52 (2): 41–54.