Production of Maternal-type Plants through Crosses to Apomictic Species

Abstract

THE process of apomixis normally involves two complementary deviations from sexual behaviour. A functional egg cell with unreduced chromosome number must first be produced, and, secondly, it must develop into an embryo without being fertilized. When the first of these stages follows the apomictic pattern and the second follows a sexual pattern, triploid progeny are produced. In the opposite case, the resulting progeny will have the haploid chromosome number.