Hybrid Corn Breeding Using Male Sterility for Uniform Traits
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing corn breeding techniques struggle to develop hybrids with uniformity and stability, incorporating desirable traits such as yield, disease resistance, and drought tolerance, while maintaining genetic diversity and avoiding self-pollination.
Innovation Solution
The development of the hybrid corn variety CH010538, which includes cytoplasmic or nuclear factors for male sterility, genetic modifications for traits like herbicide resistance, and a method for controlled cross-pollination using emasculation and bagging techniques, along with genetic editing using engineered nucleases to introduce specific alleles.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional breeding methods are used to develop corn hybrids, then genetic diversity can be maintained, but uniformity and stability of desirable traits are difficult to achieve
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the breeding process into distinct phases: developing homozygous inbred parental lines with specific traits, then crossing them to produce uniform hybrid progeny. This segmentation allows maintenance of genetic diversity in parental lines while achieving uniformity in the hybrid generation through controlled cross-pollination between genetically distinct inbreds.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies preliminary action by first developing and stabilizing homozygous inbred parental lines through multiple generations of self-pollination and selection before performing the cross. This preliminary preparation ensures that the parental lines possess the desired traits with high uniformity, which then translates to stable trait expression in the hybrid progeny.
2Reliability
If self-pollination is allowed in corn breeding, then true breeding progeny can be produced, but cross-pollination is necessary to develop hybrid vigor and combine desirable traits
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs periodic action by alternating between self-pollination phases (to produce homozygous inbred lines with true breeding uniformity) and cross-pollination phases (to generate hybrid vigor and combine desirable traits). This periodic switching between pollination modes allows the breeder to achieve both true breeding uniformity in parental lines and hybrid vigor in the final hybrid progeny.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses detasseling as an intermediary technique to prevent self-pollination and ensure cross-pollination. By removing the tassel (male flowering structure) from the female parent plant, the breeder acts as an intermediary to control the pollination process, forcing the plant to receive pollen only from the male parent and thereby producing uniform hybrid seeds with combined desirable traits.
3Reliability
If extensive breeding programs are implemented to develop superior hybrids, then desirable characteristics can be achieved, but the process requires significant time and resources
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies parameter changes by utilizing molecular markers to track and select for desirable traits during the breeding process. This molecular marker-assisted selection changes the parameter of trait detection from phenotypic observation (which requires waiting for plant growth and expression) to genotypic detection (which can be performed at the seedling stage), thereby significantly reducing the time required to develop superior hybrids while maintaining reliability of trait selection.
Data Source
AI summary
According to the disclosure, there is provided seed and plants of the hybrid corn variety designated CH010538. The disclosure thus relates to the plants, seeds, and tissue cultures of the variety CH010538, and to methods for producing a corn plant produced by crossing a corn plant of variety CH010538 with itself or with another corn plant, such as a plant of another variety. The disclosure further relates to genetic complements of plants of variety CH010538.