BREEDING CROSS-POLLINATED CROP SPECIES

C. Mahadevaiah, V. Sreenivasa, C. Appunu

Division of Crop Improvement, Sugarcane Breeding Institute, Coimbatore

The natural state of self-fertilizing crops is homozygosity. Selection results in homogeneity or heterogeneous stand of plants which are genetically different but nevertheless all homozygous (like a landrac). Cross-fertilizing populations of crops are characterized by a high degree of heterozygosity and heterogeneity. Plant species where normal mode of seed set is through a high degree of cross-pollination have characteristic reproductive features and population structure. Existence of self-sterility, self-incompatibility, imperfect flowers, and mechanical obstructions make the plant dependent upon foreign pollen for normal seed set. Each plant receives a blend of pollen from a large number of individuals each having different genotypes. Such populations are characterized by a high degree of heterozygosity with tremendous free and potential genetic variation, which is maintained in a steady state by free gene flow among individuals within the populations. Breeding cross-pollinated crop species, One has to deal with population genetics when considering the effects of plant breeding on cross pollinating crop species. The Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium states that gene frequencies will remain constant after one generation of random mating unless alteration is brought about by: 1. selection 2. non random mating 3. differential migration 4. differential mutation rates from dominant to recessive and recessive to dominant allelic condition, and 5. the species in question is not diploid

The H-W equilibrium, with respect to one allelic pair, is reached in one generation of random mating regardless of the initial composition of the population. NOTE that H-W only works with one gene and two alleles. It will work with multiple alleles if we group the phenotypes in such a manner as the allele of choice versus all other alleles. We have considered the state of dominant and recessive alleles in progeny following hybridization between Parent 1 and Parent 2 in self pollinating species. In that consideration we have focused primarily on alleles within specific plants, i.e. how may plants were FF or Ff, etc. With cross pollinating species we must now think in terms of the entire population as a soup that is made up of genes having some frequency of occurrence and not as individual plants; although selection involves plants, individually and collectively.