APOMIXIS BREEEDING AND ITS IMPLICATIONS FOR HERBAGE SEED PRODUCTION

W.W. Hanna¹, P. Ozias-Akins and C.J. Lambrides^2
1University of Georgia Coastal Plain Experiment Station, PO Box 748, Tifton, GA 31793, USA
²University of Queensland School of Land and Food Sciences, Brisbane, Q 4072, Australia

Apomixis has the potential to revolutionize crop production and the approaches used to improve plants. It would make hybrids economically possible in crops without good male sterile systems for producing hybrids. Apomixis has been used to produce cultivars in species where this reproductive mechanism exits. However, major impact of apomixis on crop production would be realized when the genes controlling this mechanism can be cloned and used to transform sexually reproducing crop species. Molecular research is providing valuable information on the size, location, and characteristics of the DNA controlling apospory.