單倍體植物（僅從一個親代遺傳染色體）在遺傳研究中有重要優(yōu)勢,，在植物育種中也極為重要——它們被用來生成純合子二倍體，從而避免很多代的近親繁殖,。
現(xiàn)在，Maruthachalam Ravi 和 Simon Chan開發(fā)出一種通過種子來生成單倍體擬南芥的簡單方法,，該方法可以很容易被推廣到農(nóng)作物,。以前，單倍體的生成涉及遠(yuǎn)交種的組織培養(yǎng)或基因組剔除,，而且很多物種用這些方法是不可能培育出單倍體的,。新方法涉及對一種蛋白（即“著絲點特異性組蛋白”，CENH3）用基因工程方法進(jìn)行處理,，生成在與野生型雜交后其基因組被從合子中除掉的品系,。
這樣產(chǎn)生的單倍體植物只有來自野生型親代的染色體。CENH3在真核細(xì)胞著絲點上起普遍作用,，所以原則上這種方法可以推廣到所有植物,。(生物谷Bioon.com)
生物谷推薦原文出處：
Nature doi:10.1038/nature08842
Haploid plants produced by centromere-mediated genome elimination
Maruthachalam Ravi1 & Simon W. L. Chan1
Department of Plant Biology, University of California, Davis, Davis, California 95616, USA
Production of haploid plants that inherit chromosomes from only one parent can greatly accelerate plant breeding1, 2, 3. Haploids generated from a heterozygous individual and converted to diploid create instant homozygous lines, bypassing generations of inbreeding. Two methods are generally used to produce haploids. First, cultured gametophyte cells may be regenerated into haploid plants4, but many species and genotypes are recalcitrant to this process2, 5. Second, haploids can be induced from rare interspecific crosses, in which one parental genome is eliminated after fertilization6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11. The molecular basis for genome elimination is not understood, but one theory posits that centromeres from the two parent species interact unequally with the mitotic spindle, causing selective chromosome loss12, 13, 14. Here we show that haploid Arabidopsis thaliana plants can be easily generated through seeds by manipulating a single centromere protein, the centromere-specific histone CENH3 (called CENP-A in human). When cenh3 null mutants expressing altered CENH3 proteins are crossed to wild type, chromosomes from the mutant are eliminated, producing haploid progeny. Haploids are spontaneously converted into fertile diploids through meiotic non-reduction, allowing their genotype to be perpetuated. Maternal and paternal haploids can be generated through reciprocal crosses. We have also exploited centromere-mediated genome elimination to convert a natural tetraploid Arabidopsis into a diploid, reducing its ploidy to simplify breeding. As CENH3 is universal in eukaryotes, our method may be extended to produce haploids in any plant species.
