title: Synthetic clonal reproduction through seeds.
abstract: Cloning through seeds has potential revolutionary applications in agriculture, because it would allow vigorous hybrids to be propagated indefinitely. However, asexual seed formation or apomixis, avoiding meiosis and fertilization, is not found in the major food crops. To develop de novo synthesis of apomixis, we crossed Arabidopsis MiMe and dyad mutants that produce diploid clonal gametes to a strain whose chromosomes are engineered to be eliminated after fertilization. Up to 34% of the progeny were clones of their parent, demonstrating the conversion of clonal female or male gametes into seeds. We also show that first-generation cloned plants can be cloned again. Clonal reproduction through seeds can therefore be achieved in a sexual plant by manipulating two to four conserved genes.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Hyderabad, India.
authors.forename: Mohan P A
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Marimuthu
authors.forename: Sylvie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Jolivet
authors.forename: Maruthachalam
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ravi
authors.forename: Lucie
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Pereira
authors.forename: Jayeshkumar N
authors.initials: JN
authors.lastname: Davda
authors.forename: Laurence
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Cromer
authors.forename: Lili
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Fabien
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Nogué
authors.forename: Simon W L
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Chan
authors.forename: Imran
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Siddiqi
authors.forename: Raphaël
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Mercier
mesh_terms: D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology*; D020090:Chromosome Segregation / Q000235:genetics; D032461:Chromosomes, Plant; D003433:Crosses, Genetic; D004171:Diploidy; D017343:Genes, Plant; D005818:Genetic Engineering; D006579:Heterozygote; D006657:Histones / Q000235:genetics; D008540:Meiosis / Q000235:genetics; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified; D012100:Reproduction, Asexual; D012639:Seeds / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D006657:Histones; D010940:Plant Proteins