An adult tree of Larix decidua Mill., European larch, was produced from doubling one haploid female gametophyte. Whether this tree can produce normal male meiocytes is the crucial question. This adult’s pollen mother cells (PMCs), or male meiocytes, were squashed and stained. Male meiosis was normal and no abortive pollen grains were observed. This female gametophytic apomict of a conifer, a dihaploid adult, is 100% homozygous yet also reproductively competent with normal male meiosis and functional male pollen. Here we show that doubled female gametophytes can produce embryos and reproductively competent adult trees. This shows a way to gain rapid homozygosity and produce completely inbred lines for larch. This is a novel breeding shortcut reported for the first time for a conifer species.
Alan, A. R. (2021). Doubled Haploid Onion (Allium cepa L.) Production Via In Vitro Gynogenesis. In Methods in Molecular Biology (pp. 151–169). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-1315-3_6
Benkman, C. W., Balda, R. P., & Smith, C. C. (1984). Adaptations for Seed Dispersal and the Compromises Due to Seed Predation in Limber Pine. Ecology, 65(2), 632–642. https://doi.org/10.2307/1941426
Bonga, J. M., Klimaszewska, K. K., & von Aderkas, P. (2010). Recalcitrance in clonal propagation, in particular of conifers. Plant Cell, Tissue and Organ Culture (PCTOC), 100(3), 241–254. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11240-009-9647-2
Christiansen, H. (1960). On the effect of low temperature on meiosis and pollen fertility in Larix decidua Mill. Silvae Genet, 9, 72–78.
Edwards, M. E., & Miller, J. H. (1972). GROWTH REGULATION BY ETHYLENE IN FERN GAMETOPHYTES. III. INHIBITION OF SPORE GERMINATION. American Journal of Botany, 59(5), 458–465. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.1537-2197.1972.tb10117.x
EKBERG, I., ERIKSSON, G., & ŠULÍKOVÁ, Z. (n.d.). MEIOSIS AND POLLEN FORMATION IN LARIX. Hereditas, 59(2–3), 427–438. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1601-5223.1968.tb02187.x
El Maâtaoui, M., & Pichot, C. (2001). Microsporogenesis in the endangered species Cupressus dupreziana A. Camus: evidence for meiotic defects yielding unreduced and abortive pollen. Planta, 213(4), 543–549. https://doi.org/10.1007/s004250100531
Grimstone, A. V., & Skaer, R. J. (1972). A guidebook to microscopical methods.
Hall, J. P. (1982). Microsporogenesis in Larix laricina. Canadian Journal of Botany, 60(6), 797–805. https://doi.org/10.1139/b82-103
Havey, M. J. (2004). A NEW PARADIGM FOR THE BREEDING OF LONGER-GENERATION HYBRID CROPS. Acta Horticulturae, 637, 31–39. https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2004.637.2
Hörandl, E. (2024). Apomixis and the paradox of sex in plants. Annals of Botany, 134(1), 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1093/aob/mcae044
Illies, Z. M. (1966). The development of aneuploidy in somatic cells of experimentally produced triploid larches. Heredity, 21(3), 379–385. https://doi.org/10.1038/hdy.1966.39
Johnsson, H. (1975). Observations on induced polyploidy in some conifers (Pinus silvestris, P. contorta, Picea abies and Larix sibirica. Silvae Genet, 24, 62–68.
Kołowerzo-Lubnau, A., Niedojadło, J., Świdziński, M., Bednarska-Kozakiewicz, E., & Smoliński, D. J. (n.d.). Transcriptional Activity in Diplotene Larch Microsporocytes, with Emphasis on the Diffuse Stage. PLOS ONE, 10(2), e0117337. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0117337
Kong, L., & von Aderkas, P. (2011). A novel method of cryopreservation without a cryoprotectant for immature somatic embryos of conifer. Plant Cell, Tissue and Organ Culture (PCTOC), 106(1), 115–125. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11240-010-9899-x
Kosiński, G. (1986). Megagametogenesis, fertilization, and embryo development in Larixdecidua. Canadian Journal of Forest Research, 16(6), 1301–1309. https://doi.org/10.1139/x86-230
Krutovsky, K. V., Tretyakova, I. N., Oreshkova, N. V., Pak, M. E., Kvitko, O. V., & Vaganov, E. A. (2014). Somaclonal variation of haploid in vitro tissue culture obtained from Siberian larch (Larix sibirica Ledeb.) megagametophytes for whole genome de novo sequencing. In Vitro Cellular & Developmental Biology - Plant, 50(5), 655–664. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11627-014-9619-z
Lelu, M. A., Klimaszewska, K., & Charest, P. J. (1994). Somatic embryogenesis from immature and mature zygotic embryos and from cotyledons and needles of somatic plantlets of Larix. Canadian Journal of Forest Research, 24(1), 100–106. https://doi.org/10.1139/x94-015
LUOMAJOKI, A. (n.d.). Effects of temperature on spermatophyte male meiosis. Hereditas, 85(1), 33–48. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1601-5223.1977.tb00947.x
Nagmani, R., & Bonga, J. M. (1985). Embryogenesis in subcultured callus of Larixdecidua. Canadian Journal of Forest Research, 15(6), 1088–1091. https://doi.org/10.1139/x85-177
Ohri, D. (2021). Polyploidy in Gymnosperms-A Reappraisal. Silvae Genetica, 70(1), 22–38. https://doi.org/10.2478/sg-2021-0003
Orr-Ewing, A. L. (1976). Inbreeding Douglas-fir to the S3 generation. Silvae Genet, 25, 5–6.
Owens, J. N., & Molder, M. (1971). Meiosis in conifers: prolonged pachytene and diffuse diplotene stages. Canadian Journal of Botany, 49(11), 2061–2064. https://doi.org/10.1139/b71-289
Pichot, C., & El Maâtaoui, M. (2000). Unreduced diploid nuclei in Cupressus dupreziana A. Camus pollen. Theoretical and Applied Genetics, 101(4), 574–579. https://doi.org/10.1007/s001220051518
Pichot, C., El Maâtaoui, M., Raddi, S., & Raddi, P. (2001). Surrogate mother for endangered Cupressus. Nature, 412(6842), 39–39. https://doi.org/10.1038/35083687
Pichot, C., Liens, B., Nava, J. L. R., Bachelier, J. B., & El Maâtaoui, M. (2008). Cypress Surrogate Mother Produces Haploid Progeny From Alien Pollen. Genetics, 178(1), 379–383. https://doi.org/10.1534/genetics.107.080572
Rohr, R., & Bonga, J. M. (1984). A method to isolate the female sexual cells of Larix decidua for cytological studies. Canadian Journal of Botany, 62(8), 1651–1658. https://doi.org/10.1139/b84-222
Romanova, L. I., & Tret’yakova, I. N. (2005). Specific features of microsporogenesis in the Siberian larch growing under the conditions of technogenic load. Russian Journal of Developmental Biology, 36(2), 99–104. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11174-005-0017-7
Sax, H. J. (1932). Chromosome Pairing in Larix Species. Journal of the Arnold Arboretum., 13(3), 368–374. https://doi.org/10.5962/p.185264
Sax, H. J. (1933). CHIASMA FORMATION IN LARIX AND TSUGA. Genetics, 18(2), 121–128. https://doi.org/10.1093/genetics/18.2.121
Simola, L. K., & Santanen, A. (1990). Improvement of nutrient medium for growth and embryogenesis of megagametophyte and embryo callus lines of Picea abies. Physiologia Plantarum, 80(1), 27–35. https://doi.org/10.1034/j.1399-3054.1990.800105.x
Slobodnik, B. (2000). Analysis of sexual reproduction in European larch (Larix decidua Mill.). Dissertation. 106.
Slobodnik, B., & Guttenberger, H. (2000). Ovule, megaspores, and female gametophyte formation in Larix decidua Mill. Pinaceae). Acta Biol Cracov Ser Bot, 42, 93–100.
von Aderkas, P., & Anderson, P. (1993). Aneuploidy and polyploidization in haploid tissue cultures of Larix decidua. Physiologia Plantarum, 88(1), 73–77. https://doi.org/10.1034/j.1399-3054.1993.880110.x
The statements, opinions and data contained in the journal are solely those of the individual authors and contributors and not of the publisher and the editor(s). We stay neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
