A METHOD TO SCREEN PLANTS FOR GENETIC ELEMENTS INDUCING PARTHENOGENESIS IN PLANTS

摘要

Compositions and methods for the production of a plant population that lacks sexually derived embryos are provided. Compositions include suppression cassettes encoding polynucleotides and promoters that result in parthenogenesis. Further provided are parthenogenesis genetic elements used to prevent sexual reproduction in a self-reproducing plant. Methods include utilizing a maternal embryo defective recessive mutation which is then maintained as a sterile inbred maintenance system, allowing the generation of a population that is homozygous for the recessive mutant allele, but transgenically complemented. Methods also include utilizing a toxin gene expressed via an egg-cell specific promoter, creating a dominant, embryo-less phenotype, non-transmittable through the female gamete. Resultant hemizygous plants would then be transformed with an egg-cell promoter driving the antidote, a pollen ablation PTU and a seed color marker for identification of transgenic seed. The generation of a plants 50% female fertile, having seed which when grown in the next generation will yield plants with 50% viable transgenic seed, and 50% non-viable embryo-less seed.