F. Pupilli et al., The chromosome segment related to apomixis in Paspalum simplex is homoeologous to the telomeric region of the long arm of rice chromosome 12, MOL BREED, 8(1), 2001, pp. 53-61
Apomixis is a form of asexual reproduction that in plants leads to the prod
uction of seed progeny that are exact copies of the mother individual. A ma
pping population generated by backcrossing a sexual with an apomictic genot
ype of Paspalum simplex, both at the tetraploid level, was used to find mar
kers co-segregating with apomixis. Genetic analysis showed that apomixis is
under the control of a single dominant allele assuming a random chromatid
assortment. Five rice markers, mapped in the telomeric region of the long a
rm of rice chromosome 12, showed tight linkage with apomixis. Genetic and m
olecular data strongly indicate that the potentiality to express apomixis i
n P. simplex is given by a relatively large chromosome segment that is inhe
rited as a single genetic unit.