Directed Chromosome Engineering via Uniparental Genome Elimination

Plant breeding through haploid production is an efficient way to fix traits of interest. Haploid production is possible in some species, but problematic in many. In Arabidopsis thaliana, genome elimination and haploidy can be induced by modification of centromeric histone H3, an approach that should be applicable in other species. We plan to test this method in cultivated potato (Solanum tuberosum Group Tuberosum) and compare it to haploid induction resulting from the natural inducer, Solanum tuberosum Group Phureja. Secondly, DNA from the haploid inducer can sometimes be retained and inherited during genome elimination in Arabidopsis, effectively providing an unusual case of genomic introgression. A related process has been suggested by genotyping Phujera induced haploids in potato. We aim to compare the features of these systems to exploit novel ways in which haploid induction could facilitate breeding of crop plants.