Methods of producing haploid and doubled haploid oil palms

摘要

The present invention relates to haploid oil palm plants and homozygous doubled haploid oil palm plants. The invention also relates to methods for producing and selecting haploid and doubled haploid plants. More particularly, but not exclusively, the method may be used for selecting haploid and doubled haploid oil palm plants. The seeds are first germinated and haploid plants are selected by a large-scale screening based on a combination of the phenotype of the seedlings, and the use of molecular methods combined with flow cytometry techniques to identify haploid and doubled haploid seedlings. More particularly, the method for selecting haploid and doubled haploid plants comprises: (a) germinating seeds; (b) selecting seedlings with desired phenotype; (c) isolating cells from the seedlings and determining the DNA content of the cells; and (d) isolating and purifying the DNA and using defined molecular markers to characterise the genotype of the plant. The haploid oil palm plants and homozygous doubled haploid oil palm plants may be used for various applications, such as producing homozygous doubled haploid oil palms, and the subsequent intercrossing of the homozygous doubled haploid oil palms to produce an F 1 hybrid generation.