Unit 8 Inbreeding depression and heterosis

What is Heterosis

Heterosis is the improved biological quality of a phenotypic trait in

the progeny of diverse varieties of a species or crosses between
species. Therefore, the progeny may exhibit greater biomass, speed of
development, fertility, etc. than both parents. On that account, heterosis is
also known as hybrid vigor or outbreeding enhancement. In general,
outbreeding tends to increase the genetic diversity of the progeny.
Consequently, it increases the biological fitness of the offspring.

What is Inbreeding Depression

Inbreeding depression is the decreased biological quality of a phenotypic

trait in the progeny of related varieties of a species. Furthermore, in small
populations or inbred, it tends to lose genetic diversity. Hence, inbreeding
depression is the loss of fitness due to reduced genetic diversity. Usually, the
biological fitness of an organism refers to an organism’s ability to survive
and perpetuate its genetic material. However, higher genetic variation or
gene pool within a breeding population makes it less suffer from inbreeding
depression.

Similarities Between Heterosis and Inbreeding Depression

Heterosis and inbreeding depression are two effects of parental distance,
which affects the fitness of the offspring.
They are the consequences of inbreeding and outbreeding in natural
populations.
Both are major goals of evolutionary biology, determining the quality of a
particular phenotype.
Difference Between Heterosis and Inbreeding Depression
Heterosis refers to the increased function of any biological quality in
a hybrid offspring, while inbreeding depression refers to the
reduced biological fitness in a given population as a result of inbreeding, or
breeding of related individuals.

Application of Heterosis

Heterosis has been exploited at commercial scale both in plants and

animals. But in animals, it is not as much common as in plants. The main
reason for it are longer life cycle, sexuality and insufficient understanding of
complex genetic architecture of higher animals.

Heterosis is being exploited in crop plants, ornamentals and fruit crops

commercially. It is more important in vegetatively propagated perennial
plants For example, in fruits and ornamentals, if once heterosis is achieved,
it may be maintained for long. It is generally exploited in cross pollinated
crops in the form of hybrids, composites and synthetic seeds. (For more
details consult a book on 'plant breeding').

Unit 9 Crop Improvement and Breeding

Role of mutations

The utilization of induced mutation in crop imporvement is called mutation

breeding. In mutation breeding, desirable mutations are induced in crop
plants with the use of physical or chemical mutagens. The variability
generated through induced mutations are either released as a new variety
or used as the parent for subsequent hybridization programmes. Treating of
biological materials with mutagens to indice mutation is called mutagenesis.
If any class of radiations are used as a mutagen to induce mutation in crop
plants, the exposure of biological organism to the radiation is called
irrdiation. Mutation breeding programme should be clearly planned and
should be large enough with suffiecent facilities to screen large population.

Polyploidy

Breeding of polyploid crops has been in progress since the domestication of

crop plants, while genetic gains can be obtained through selection,
evaluation and recombination, the successful selection of crop improvement
may depend on understanding and unravelling the complexities of genetic
variation that underlies the phenotype. The genomic sequence analysis has
vastly enhanced our knowledge of plant genomes, leading to an
understanding of the behaviour of polyploid plant genomes. A better
understanding of polyploidy holds a great promise for crop improvement by
better association between genotype and phenotype and bridging gaps for
the genetic transmission of desired agronomic traits between crop species
and their wild relatives. For a long period of time, polyploidy in plants has
been considered to be an important phenomenon because of genome
buffering, increased allelic diversity, fixing heterozygosity and the
opportunity for novel phenotypic variations because of duplicated genes
which acquire new function. Polyploidisation followed by fractionation and
duplicate gene diversification provides the opportunity to reconsider the
importance of polyploidy for crop improvement.

Distant Hybridization

Crossing between two different species of the same genus or two different
genera of the same family is called distant hybridization and such crosses
are referred to as distant crosses or wide crosses. Wide crossing or distant
hybridization has been used in the genetic improvement of some crop
plants.
It is an effective means of transferring desirable genes into cultivated plants
from related species and genera. Distant crosses are more successful in
more closely related species or genera than in less closely related species or
genera.
Distant hybridization is of two types, viz:
(1) Interspecific hybridization, and
(2) Intergeneric hybridization.

I. Interspecific Hybridization:
Crossing or mating between two different species of the same genus is
referred to as interspecific hybridization. Because interspecific hybridization
involves two species of the same genus, it is also termed as intrageneric
hybridization.
Main features of interspecific hybridization are given below:
1. It is used when the desirable character is not found within the species of a
crop.
2. It is an effective method of transferring desirable genes into cultivated
plants from their related cultivated or wild species.
3. Interspecific hybridization is more successful in vegetatively propagated
species like sugarcane and potato than in seed propagated species.
4. Interspecific hybridization leads to introgression which refers to transfer
of some genes from one species into the genome of another species.

II. Intergeneric Hybridization:

Intergeneric hybridization refers to crossing between two different genera
of the same family. Such crosses are rarely used in crop improvement
because of various problems associated with them.
The main features of intergeneric crosses are given below:
1. Intergeneric hybridization is used when the desirable genes are not found
in different species of the same genus.
2. This method is rarely used in crop improvement programmes and that too
for transfer of some specific characters into cultivated species from allied
genera.
3. Intereneric hybridization has been generally used in asexually propagated
species.
4. F1 hybrids between two genera are always sterile. The fertility has to be
restored by doubling of chromosomes through colchicine treatment.
5. Intergeneric hybridization was used by some workers to develop new
crop species.

Role of biotechnology in crop improvement

The potential application of the methods of tissue culture are of special
significance in crop improvement since conventional methods involve
several difficulties, including heterozygosity and a long span between
successive generations, hence many investigators are devising methods
whereby tissue culture could be fully exploited to improve crop varieties.
The role of tissue culture in crop improvement could be identified in four
areas:
(a) As an aid to conventional breeding programme;
(b) As a tool of unconventional breeding programme;
(c) In clonal propagation, and
(d) In obtaining disease-free plants.
Before launching a large-scale programme of crop improvement by tissue
culture, it should be ensured that the method is economically viable.
Monocotyledonous plant material has never been a favourable system for
tissue culture though most crop plants are monocots.
In recent years success has been achieved in growing graminaceous crops in
cultures using root, Triticum aestivum; shoot primordia, Sorghum bicolor,
mesocotyl segments, Panicum miliaceum; internodes of leaf segments,
Saccharum officinarum; anther culture Oryza sativa and endosperm Lolium
perenne.