Maize Inbred 1PRMW23 Hybrid Breeding via Male Sterility
Solution Overview
Problem
The development of new maize varieties and hybrids is a time-consuming process, typically taking six to twelve years from the initial cross to the delivery of finished seed, due to the complexity of combining desirable traits such as disease resistance, drought tolerance, and high yield.
Innovation Solution
The introduction of a novel maize variety, 1PRMW23, which can be used to produce hybrid maize through crossing with other maize plants, incorporating traits such as male sterility, herbicide tolerance, insect resistance, and improved agronomic characteristics, using techniques like backcross conversion, genetic manipulation, and transformation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional breeding methods are used to combine desirable traits, then the resulting maize varieties have improved resistance and yield, but the development process takes six to twelve years
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs preliminary action by using male sterility systems (cytoplasmic or nuclear) to prevent self-pollination before crossing occurs. This ensures that only desired cross-pollination events produce seeds, eliminating the need for time-consuming selection and elimination of unwanted self-pollinated plants in later generations. The male sterility trait is introduced into the parental lines beforehand, streamlining the entire breeding process.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses male sterility as an intermediary mechanism to control pollination. By introducing a third element (the male sterility gene system) that mediates between the parental lines, the breeding process becomes more efficient. This intermediary ensures precise control over which plants can be pollinated, allowing breeders to rapidly produce F1 hybrids with desired traits without the time loss associated with traditional selection methods.
2Adaptability or versatility
If multiple desirable traits are combined in a single variety, then the variety achieves high yield and stress tolerance, but the breeding process becomes more complex and time-consuming
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies segmentation by dividing the breeding process into distinct components: developing male sterile parental lines with specific traits, and developing corresponding restorer lines. This segmentation allows breeders to work on different trait combinations in parallel rather than sequentially. Each parental line can be optimized for specific traits independently, then combined through controlled crossing to achieve varieties with multiple desirable traits simultaneously.
Solution Approach 2:
The male sterility system serves multiple functions: it prevents self-pollination, ensures cross-pollination, and facilitates the combination of multiple traits. By having a universal mechanism that handles all these functions, the breeding process manages complexity more effectively. The same male sterility system can be applied across different parental lines and trait combinations, providing a consistent framework for developing varieties with diverse trait combinations.
3Ease of manufacture
If self-pollination is allowed in maize breeding, then seed production is simpler, but unwanted self-pollinated plants contaminate the hybrid seed population
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the self-pollination capability from the breeding process by introducing male sterility. The male sterile plants are unable to produce viable pollen, effectively removing the self-pollination option. This extraction ensures that all seeds produced in the hybrid seed population come from cross-pollination events only, eliminating contamination from self-pollinated plants while maintaining relatively simple seed production procedures.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies preliminary anti-action by preventing self-pollination before it can occur through the male sterility mechanism. Rather than dealing with unwanted self-pollinated plants after they are produced, the system proactively prevents self-pollination by making the plants incapable of producing viable pollen. This preliminary prevention ensures high hybrid seed purity from the outset while keeping the production process simple.
Data Source
AI summary
A maize variety designated 1PRMW23 and seed, plants and plant parts thereof are provided. Methods for producing a maize plant comprise crossing maize variety 1PRMW23 with another maize plant are provided. Methods for producing a maize plant containing in its genetic material one or more traits introgressed into 1PRMW23 through backcross conversion and/or transformation, and to the maize seed, plant and plant part produced thereby are provided. Hybrid maize seed, plants or plant parts are produced by crossing the variety 1PRMW23 or a locus conversion of 1PRMW23 with another maize variety.