Goeckeritz Charity Z, Zheng Xixi, Harkess Alex, Dresselhaus Thomas
HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology, Huntsville, AL 35806, USA.
Cell Biology and Plant Biochemistry, University of Regensburg, 93040 Regensburg, Germany.
iScience. 2024 Aug 14;27(9):110720. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2024.110720. eCollection 2024 Sep 20.
Apomixis, or asexual reproduction through seeds, is frequent in nature but does not exist in any major crop species, yet the phenomenon has captivated researchers for decades given its potential for clonal seed production and plant breeding. A discussion on whether this field will benefit from the continued study of natural apomicts is warranted given the recent outstanding progress in engineering apomixis. Here, we summarize what is known about its genetic control and the status of applying synthetic apomixis in agriculture. We argue there is still much to be learned from natural apomicts, and learning from them is necessary to improve on current progress and guarantee the effective application of apomixis beyond the few genera it has shown promise in so far. Specifically, we stress the value of studying the repeated evolution of natural apomicts in a phylogenetic and comparative -omics context. Finally, we identify outstanding questions in the field and discuss how technological advancements can be used to help close these knowledge gaps. In particular, genomic resources are lacking for apomicts, and this must be remedied for widespread use of apomixis in agriculture.
无融合生殖，即通过种子进行无性繁殖，在自然界中很常见，但在任何主要作物品种中都不存在。然而，鉴于其在克隆种子生产和植物育种方面的潜力，这一现象已经吸引了研究人员数十年。鉴于最近在工程化无融合生殖方面取得的显著进展，有必要讨论该领域是否将从对天然无融合生殖体的持续研究中受益。在此，我们总结了关于其遗传控制的已知信息以及在农业中应用合成无融合生殖的现状。我们认为，从天然无融合生殖体中仍有许多有待学习的地方，向它们学习对于改进当前进展并确保无融合生殖在目前已显示出前景的少数属之外得到有效应用是必要的。具体而言，我们强调在系统发育和比较组学背景下研究天然无融合生殖体反复进化的价值。最后，我们确定了该领域的突出问题，并讨论了如何利用技术进步来帮助填补这些知识空白。特别是，无融合生殖体缺乏基因组资源，这必须得到弥补，以便无融合生殖在农业中得到广泛应用。
