Martinez-Perez E
Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK.
Genome Dyn. 2009;5:26-42. doi: 10.1159/000166617.
A major goal of breeding programs is to increase and manipulate the genetic diversity of crops. The incorporation of beneficial genes from wild relatives into crops is achieved by producing hybrid plants in which meiotic recombination events occur between the two genomes. Furthering our understanding of meiosis in the cereals could enable the manipulation of homolog pairing and recombination, significantly enhancing the efficiency of breeding programs. The main obstacle to the genetic analysis of meiosis in cereal crops has been the complex organization of most cereal genomes, many of which are polyploid. However, the recent sequencing of the rice genome, the use of insertional mutagenesis and reverse genetics approaches has opened the door for the genetic and genomic analysis of cereal meiosis. The goal of this review is to show how these new resources, as well as the use of three-dimensional microscopy, are rapidly providing insights into the mechanisms that control pairing, recombination and segregation of homologous chromosomes during meiosis in four major cereal crops: wheat, rice, maize and rye.
育种计划的一个主要目标是增加和操控作物的遗传多样性。通过培育杂种植物，使两个基因组之间发生减数分裂重组事件，从而将野生近缘种的有益基因整合到作物中。深入了解谷类作物的减数分裂，有助于操控同源染色体配对和重组，显著提高育种计划的效率。谷类作物减数分裂遗传分析的主要障碍是大多数谷类基因组的复杂结构，其中许多是多倍体。然而，水稻基因组的最新测序、插入诱变和反向遗传学方法的应用，为谷类减数分裂的遗传和基因组分析打开了大门。本综述的目的是展示这些新资源以及三维显微镜的应用，如何迅速为控制小麦、水稻、玉米和黑麦这四种主要谷类作物减数分裂过程中同源染色体配对、重组和分离的机制提供深入见解。
