Automated Nondestructive Seed Sampling for Hybrid Production
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for producing hybrid seeds are labor-intensive and costly, particularly due to the need for hand-emasculation and manual pollination, and the maintenance of male-sterile lines is inefficient as male-fertile plants are difficult to identify and segregate.
Innovation Solution
An automated system and method for high-throughput, nondestructive seed sampling that separates, orients, and samples individual seeds to select those with desired genetic traits, allowing for efficient germplasm improvement and management without damaging the seeds' germination viability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If hand-emasculation and hand-pollination are used to produce hybrid seed, then hybrid seed can be produced, but the process becomes labor intensive and expensive
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs nuclear genetic male-sterility where the female parent plants automatically prevent self-pollination without human intervention. The ms/ms genotype inherently produces sterile male flowers, eliminating the need for hand-emasculation and enabling self-service in hybrid seed production
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces manual mechanical operations (hand-emasculation and hand-pollination) with a genetic mechanism (nuclear male-sterility). This substitution eliminates labor-intensive mechanical processes while maintaining hybrid seed production capability
2Productivity
If nuclear genetic male-sterility is used to eliminate hand manipulations, then labor is reduced, but male-fertile segregants are difficult to identify and require removal
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs cytoplasmic male-sterility which manifests as a visible phenotypic difference (sterile vs. fertile flowers) that allows easy visual identification and selection of male-sterile plants in the field, eliminating the difficulty of identifying and removing male-fertile segregants
3Ease of operation
If gynecious plant types are used as female parents, then hand manipulations are not required, but the trait is complexly inherited and incompletely penetrant
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and utilizes a specific nuclear genetic trait (male-sterility controlled by single recessive genes) from the complex gynecious inheritance system. This isolated genetic mechanism provides clear, predictable inheritance patterns while maintaining the benefit of eliminating hand manipulations
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 2A~2E
AI summary
The present disclosure provides for systems and method for producing hybrid seed. In various embodiments, the disclosure provides a system for the high-throughput, nondestructive sampling of seeds. In another embodiment, a high-throughput, nondestructive method for producing hybrid seeds comprises removing a sample from a plurality of seeds in the population while preserving the germination viability of the seed and analyzing the sample for the presence or absence of one or more genetic markers indicative of a male-sterile gene.