Hybrid Corn Variety Breeding for Trait Stability and Hybrid Purity

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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 CH010537, which includes cytoplasmic and nuclear factors for male sterility, genetic modifications for traits like herbicide resistance and disease resistance, and a method of controlled cross-pollination using emasculation and bagging to ensure hybrid purity, combined with genome editing techniques for precise genetic locus modifications.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If traditional breeding methods are used to develop hybrid corn varieties, then genetic diversity can be maintained, but uniformity and stability of desirable traits such as yield and disease resistance are difficult to achieve

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveuniformity and stability of desirable traitsVSAvoidbreeding process complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies preliminary action by developing and maintaining pure-breeding inbred lines through repeated self-pollination before the hybridization step. This preliminary inbreeding process ensures that the parental lines are genetically uniform and stable, which then guarantees uniformity and stability in the resulting hybrid varieties when crossed. The inbred lines serve as standardized, reliable parents that consistently produce uniform hybrids.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The breeding process is segmented into distinct phases: (1) development of inbred parental lines through self-pollination, (2) controlled cross-pollination to produce hybrids, and (3) evaluation of hybrid performance. This segmentation allows each phase to be optimized independently, ensuring genetic uniformity in the parental lines and consistent hybrid production, thereby resolving the contradiction between trait stability and process complexity.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

2Adaptability or versatility

If self-pollination is allowed in corn breeding, then breeding process is simpler, but genetic diversity is reduced and hybrid vigor is lost

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvegenetic diversityVSAvoidbreeding operation simplicity
Core Design Contradiction:
Adaptability or versatilityVSEase of operation

Solution Approach 1:

The patent extracts the male reproductive organs (tassels) from selected female parent plants through emasculation, preventing self-pollination. This extraction of the male function from specific plants ensures that only controlled cross-pollination occurs, maintaining genetic diversity through hybridization while simplifying the breeding operation by using standardized emasculation and bagging procedures rather than requiring complex pollination control for each plant.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Solution Approach 2:

Pollination bags serve as an intermediary tool that facilitates controlled cross-pollination. The bags physically isolate the silk receptacles from ambient pollen, ensuring that only desired pollen from male parent plants can fertilize the female plants. This intermediary mechanism maintains genetic diversity through controlled hybridization while simplifying operations by providing a straightforward visual and physical control system.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

3Manufacturing precision

If controlled cross-pollination methods like emasculation and bagging are used, then hybrid purity is ensured, but breeding process complexity and time increase

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvehybrid purityVSAvoidbreeding cycle time
Core Design Contradiction:
Manufacturing precisionVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

Emasculation is performed preliminarily, several days before silk emergence, when the female plants are still in the vegetative stage. This preliminary removal of male organs prevents any possibility of self-pollination before the controlled cross-pollination step. By performing emasculation in advance during a convenient growth stage rather than at silk emergence, the breeding cycle time is minimized while ensuring hybrid purity.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The patent rushes through the pollination control process by using a streamlined emasculation-bagging-pollination sequence that minimizes the time plants spend in controlled conditions. The bags are applied quickly after emasculation, and controlled pollination is performed at the optimal moment of silk receptivity, reducing the overall duration of the controlled breeding process while maintaining high hybrid purity standards.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #21Skipping (Rushing through)

Data Source

PatentUS12588615B2Plants and seeds of hybrid corn variety CH010537
Publication Date: 2026.03.31 MONSANTO TECHNOLOGY LLC

AI summary

According to the disclosure, there is provided seed and plants of the hybrid corn variety designated CH010537. The disclosure thus relates to the plants, seeds, and tissue cultures of the variety CH010537, and to methods for producing a corn plant produced by crossing a corn plant of variety CH010537 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 CH010537.