Research on reproductive isolation (RI) - a major driving force of speciation - has been carried out in both plants and animals. Prezygotic and postzygotic RI barriers reduce the chances of obtaining a hybrid between parents, compromising the generation of novel genotypes from a hybrid descendant. Therefore, the RI barrier is a major drawback to plants' wide hybridization and introgression breeding (WHIB) programs.
Recent advancements in molecular research have revealed that genes relating to autoimmunity, genomic imprinting, self(or cross)-incompatibility, and “toxin-antidote” functions maintain the RI barrier. As research continues to shed light on its molecular genetic background, the RI barrier may become less of an obstacle to WHIBs, which may provide novel elite cultivars for sustainable agricultural production.
The WHIB has the potential to generate novel genotypes suitable for agriculture in the era of global change and rapid population expansion. However, cross incompatibility, hybrid lethality, and hybrid sterility compromise interspecific and/or intergeneric hybridization breeding. To avoid this problem, several techniques including the application of bridge crosses and embryo rescue have been developed. However, their effectiveness is inconsistent and does not provide a fundamental solution to hybrid problems. On the contrary, knowledge of the genes involved in reproductive isolation mechanisms will potentially help circumvent the hybrid problem. Molecular techniques such as forward genetics have facilitated the restoration of the hybrid fertility of rice and the suppression of hybrid lethality of Nicotiana.
In this Research Topic, we would like to address 1) current knowledge of the molecular aspects of plant RI; 2) The problem of the RI barrier in WHIB programs, and 3) studies circumventing the RI barrier in species hybrids. Such topics will help develop novel effective systems for WHIB programs.
We therefore welcome articles covering the following subtopics:
- Overviews of current knowledge on the molecular biology of plant reproductive isolation (Reviews);
- Practical views on RI and its effect on WHIB programs (Reviews);
- Evading prezygotic reproductive barriers (Original Research);
- Restoring the fertility of wide hybrids (Original Research);
- Evading hybrid lethality and necrosis (Original Research).
Research on reproductive isolation (RI) - a major driving force of speciation - has been carried out in both plants and animals. Prezygotic and postzygotic RI barriers reduce the chances of obtaining a hybrid between parents, compromising the generation of novel genotypes from a hybrid descendant. Therefore, the RI barrier is a major drawback to plants' wide hybridization and introgression breeding (WHIB) programs.
Recent advancements in molecular research have revealed that genes relating to autoimmunity, genomic imprinting, self(or cross)-incompatibility, and “toxin-antidote” functions maintain the RI barrier. As research continues to shed light on its molecular genetic background, the RI barrier may become less of an obstacle to WHIBs, which may provide novel elite cultivars for sustainable agricultural production.
The WHIB has the potential to generate novel genotypes suitable for agriculture in the era of global change and rapid population expansion. However, cross incompatibility, hybrid lethality, and hybrid sterility compromise interspecific and/or intergeneric hybridization breeding. To avoid this problem, several techniques including the application of bridge crosses and embryo rescue have been developed. However, their effectiveness is inconsistent and does not provide a fundamental solution to hybrid problems. On the contrary, knowledge of the genes involved in reproductive isolation mechanisms will potentially help circumvent the hybrid problem. Molecular techniques such as forward genetics have facilitated the restoration of the hybrid fertility of rice and the suppression of hybrid lethality of Nicotiana.
In this Research Topic, we would like to address 1) current knowledge of the molecular aspects of plant RI; 2) The problem of the RI barrier in WHIB programs, and 3) studies circumventing the RI barrier in species hybrids. Such topics will help develop novel effective systems for WHIB programs.
We therefore welcome articles covering the following subtopics:
- Overviews of current knowledge on the molecular biology of plant reproductive isolation (Reviews);
- Practical views on RI and its effect on WHIB programs (Reviews);
- Evading prezygotic reproductive barriers (Original Research);
- Restoring the fertility of wide hybrids (Original Research);
- Evading hybrid lethality and necrosis (Original Research).