Breeding Plants with the Genes From One Parent to Attain More Desirable Traits

    The article, 'Breeding Plants with Genes From One Parent', discusses the research done at the University of California Davis College, when Simon Chan and colleagues, such as Ravi Maruthachalam, while breeding a lab plant known as Arabidopsis, accidentally stumbled across a way to completely omit one parent's genetic information from the offspring. This finding is exponential since plants are typically diploid, they inherit two sets of chromosomes one from each parent; if a trait is desirable, the plant will pass along the gene to its offspring. However, this process could take several generations to make its mark.  Eliminating half the genome, creating haploid crops, could aid in quickening the process of breeding crop plants for desirable traits easier, and creating true homozygous offspring faster. 

    Chan and Maruthachalam modified just one protein, CENH3, found in the centromere of the plant's chromosomes. When the plants with the modified CENH3 gene were crossed with wild-type Arabidopsis, the results were plants with half the normal number of chromosomes, making a haploid plant with only genetic information being passed down from one parent, completely eliminating the other parent's genome. 

    Once replicated by another researcher, Professor Comai, used a different plant species and manipulated the same CENH3 gene and also created plants with one set of chromosomes.  However,  Comai did state that the rules related to each species and the CENH3 gene are distinct from one another.  

    The true finding related to the CENH3 gene is when the CENH3 gene is altered, the centromere of the chromosome is weakened due to the gene being removed from the DNA inside the egg before fertilization. Thus, when embryonic division occurs, the centromeres lacking the CENH3 (female genome in the egg) fail to compete with the centromeres containing CENH3 (male genome in the sperm). Therefore, the female genome is eliminated, engendering the selective depletion of weak centromeres when CENH3 is eradicated. 

I chose this article since the idea is novel.  Typically, like other sexual organisms, plants are diploid and inherit two sets of chromosomes one from each parent.  However, in this article, researchers found a way to make the offspring haploid. This is a task that seems nearly impossible to accomplish.  Although more research is needed, I like this concept since these findings are applicable and useful in today's society, especially in breeding agricultural crops such as wheat, corn, beans, etc., with the potential to feed more people more quickly if bred desirably.