Breeding Hybrid Cultivars 1

INSPIRING GREATNESS
 Hybrid Cultivars
• Hybrid cultivars : 1st generation offspring of cross between inbred
line parents with different genotypes
– use homozygous parent lines (inbred lines) created by inbreeding (self-
fertilization)
– hybrid cultivar is different from a cultivar produced by hybridisation in self-
pollinated crops

• Hybridisation in self-pollinated (SP) crops

– homozygous parent lines crossed
– segregating progenies SP for several generations until they reach homozygosity
– Thereafter a pure line is elected and grown as cultivar

Breeding Hybrids AGPS 306

INSPIRING GREATNESS
 Hybrid cultivars
• Hybrid cultivars are developed in 3 steps
– Development of inbred lines – several generations of inbreeding in a natural or segregating
population of a cross pollinated species
– Cross unrelated inbred lines to produce single cross F1 hybrid cultivar with many
heterozygous loci
– Produce seed of the single-cross hybrid for distribution to the grower

• Inbred parent lines of single-cross hybrids are:

– homozygous at all loci (comparable to pure-lines), therefore single-cross hybrids with
common parentage are

• identical in genotype and

• uniform in appearance

Breeding Hybrids AGPS 306

INSPIRING GREATNESS
Origin of hybrid breeding
• Hybrid breeding began in
1909
• George H. Shull suggested a
method of producing hybrid
seed maize
• The previous year, Shull had
reported that “a field of open-
pollinated (naturally cross-
pollinated) maize is composed
of many complex hybrids,
which decline in vigour with
inbreeding, and that the
breeder should strive to
maintain the best hybrid
combination”

Breeding Hybrids AGPS 306

INSPIRING GREATNESS
 Origin of Hybrids
• While inbreeding and crossing in maize, Shull outlined a procedure for developing inbred
lines (pure-lines)
• Crossing the inbred lines to produce single-cross (SC) hybrid cultivars
• Proposal completely changed maize breeding and breeding of hybrids extended to other
field and horticultural crops.
• Edward M East and his students Donald F Jones and Herbert K Hayes in 1918
contributed to breeding hybrid corn
• Problem with SC hybrids – cost of producing the hybrid seed due to weak and
unproductive inbred lines
• Proposed crossing pairs of inbred lines to produce SC hybrids, then crossing two
unrelated SC hybrids to produce a double-cross (DC) hybrid cultivar

Breeding Hybrids AGPS 306

INSPIRING GREATNESS
 Origin of hybrids
• Scheme for double-cross hybrids:

Develop four inbred lines A, B, C, D

Cross pairs of inbreds: AxB CxD
Cross single-cross hybrids: AB CD
Grow double-cross hybrid cultivar: ABCD

• Procedure made production of hybrid seed economically feasible

• Due to the quantity produced from vigorous and productive (female) SC
hybrid plants
• Pollen also produced abundantly from vigorous SC male parent

INSPIRING GREATNESS
 Inbreeding in cross pollinated crops
• Inbreeding consists of any system of mating that leads to an increase in homozygosity
• Occurs in individuals related by ancestry when mated
• Self-fertilization leads to homozygosity – with heterozygosity being reduced by half in
each self-fertilization generation
• As homozygosity increases, genotype frequencies change but gene frequencies remain
the same
• Maize has been studied for the effects of inbreeding in cross pollinated crops
• Some crops like red clover seeds not normally obtained following self-fertilization due to
self-incompatibility
• Crops with male and female flowers on separate plants, self pollination cannot be done,
inbreeding accomplished through sib matings (mating of close relatives)

INSPIRING GREATNESS
 Inbreeding
• Half-sib mating – (have one parent in common or one pollen source)

• Full-sib mating – mating between plants within the progeny of a single plant

• Sib matings increase homozygosity but homozygosity is reached more slowly than through
self-fertilization

• 10 generations of sib mating normally

required to reach same level of
homozygosity as three generations of
self-fertilization (Fig 11.2)

INSPIRING GREATNESS
 Consequence of inbreeding
• Major visible result of inbreeding – loss in size and vigor in progeny
• Decrease in vigor largest following the first generation of inbreeding and levels off as
homozygosity is approached (Fig 11.3).
• Decline in vigor known as inbreeding
depression
• Results from increases in the frequency of
homozygous loci with deleterious effects
• In plants with heterozygous loci, the recessive
deleterious allele is not expressed in the
plant phenotype due to masking by the
favorable dominant allele
• As homozygosity increases, many dominant
alleles are lost and the deleterious effects of
recessive alleles on the phenotype are expressed

INSPIRING GREATNESS
 Effects of inbreeding: Example - forage crops

• Suppression of fertility and seed production

• Decline in fertility is rapid

• Inbred progenies cannot be maintained by seed propagation or

• Maintained with great difficulty (beyond the first or second selfed

generation)

INSPIRING GREATNESS
 Effects of Inbreeding – example: maize
• In cross-pollinated species such as maize – inbreeding results in:
• Reduction in plant stature
• Weak stalks and a tendency to
lodge
• increased susceptibility to
disease pathogens
• Many other deleterious plant
characteristics
• In development of inbred lines, undesirable
plants are discarded, retaining only the vigorous
plants which are self-pollinated again and the process repeated (See
figure)

INSPIRING GREATNESS
 Important trait of inbred lines

• Important trait of inbred lines - contribution to yield in hybrid

combination

• This is only expressed when the inbred line is crossed with another
inbred line and the hybrid progeny grown In a yield trial

• In naturally- self-pollinating crops (barley, beans, rice, soybean,

tomato, wheat etc) – no adverse effects from inbreeding

• These crops are maintained in a homozygous condition without loss

of vigour.

INSPIRING GREATNESS
 Hybrid Vigour or Heterosis
• Hybrid vigour – the increase in size or vigour or productivity of a hybrid
plant over the average or mean of its parents (mid-parent value)
• Another term, heterosis, was proposed by Shull to denote stimulation in size
and vigour in a hybrid as an expression of hybrid vigour
• The terms, hybrid vigour and heterosis, are synonymous and are used
interchangeably
• To be useful hybrid vigour needs to exceed the best parent in yield
productivity
• Unless a hybrid is superior to its best parent line, it has no advantage to the
breeder.

INSPIRING GREATNESS
 Hybrid vigour or Heterosis
• Hybrid vigour may be manifested in many ways:
– Most often - increased vegetative growth or grain yield;
• It may also be reflected in:
– cell size, plant height, leaf size, root development, ear or head size, grain
number, seed size, biochemical pathways, etc
• Hybrid vigour – greatest when parents of the cross-pollinated crop species
are diverse
• May also be expressed among diverse genotypes of self-pollinated crops

Breeding Hybrids AGPS 306

INSPIRING GREATNESS
 Explanations of hybrid vigour
• Two theories have been offered:
• Widely accepted explanation is favourable-dominant-gene theory, which is based on
the assumption that hybrid vigour results from bringing together favourable dominant
genes
• Alleles contributing to vigour and growth are dominant, whereas recessive alleles may
be neutral, harmful or deleterious
• Example
Inbred A x Inbred B
AABBccddEE aabbCCDDEE
F1 hybrid
AaBbCcDdEE
• The F1 hybrid contain dominant genes at five loci compared to only 3 in each of the
inbred parent lines
Breeding Hybrids AGPS 306
INSPIRING GREATNESS
 Explanations of Hybrid Vigour
• Another theory: Overdominance theory - explains hybrid vigour on the basis of heterozygosity being
superior to homozygosity, the most vigourous individual being the one with the greatest number of
heterozygous alleles
• This theory is based on the supposition that there are contrasting alleles
• For example a1 and a2 for a single locus; each allele produces favourable yet different effects in the
plant
• In a heterozygous (a1a2) plant, a combination of the effects is produced that is more favourable to the
plant than the effect produced by either of the alleles alone
• This phenomenon where the heterozygote (a1a2) is superior to the homozygotes (a1a1) or (a2a2) is
based on the interaction of alleles on the same locus
• Neither the favourable dominant nor the overdominance theory satisfactorily explains all cases of hybrid
vigour,
• But the favourable dominant theory is favoured by most experimental evidence

Breeding Hybrids AGPS 306

INSPIRING GREATNESS
Utilization of hybrid vigour in cultivar development
• Principle of hybrid breeding:
– find parent genotypes that will combine to produce a superior yielding F1
hybrid plant and
– to reproduce the F1 genotype in every plant in the hybrid population
faithfully
• The hybrid plant is heterozygous at many loci, but have identical genotypes,
therefore uniform - assuming that the parent lines were homozygous or nearly
so
• For wide-scale hybrid acceptance, the F1 seeds must be produced in
sufficient quantity to be grown on a field scale
• Need some practical form of pollination control in hybrid seed production
• Hybrid seed must be produced at an affordable price

Breeding Hybrids AGPS 306

INSPIRING GREATNESS
Utilization of hybrid vigour in cultivar development
• Example: Maize pollination controlled through detasseling of female plants
– these are then pollinated from wind-blown pollen from adjacent male-fertile pollinator
rows

• In crops where large number of seeds produced from a single floret

(cucumber, pepper, tomato) hand emasculation and pollination are used to
produce hybrid seed
• Field crops – hand pollinations too expensive to produce needed quantities of
seed
• Alternative methods used:
– Cytoplasmic male sterility and fertility restorer genes
– Chemicals hybridization agents that prevent pollen formation
– Hot water treatments
Breeding Hybrids AGPS 306
INSPIRING GREATNESS
 Hybrid Cultivars
Requirements

• Hybrid vigour – greater in cross-pollinated than in self-pollinated crops.

• Elimination of pollen from female parent –

– Detasseling

– Male sterility

– Self incompatibility.

• Pollen transport – wind, insect, hand.

• Parent selection – attention to choice of parents is important to produce quality seed

at reasonable cost.

INSPIRING GREATNESS
 Hybrid Cultivars
• Basic steps in hybrid breeding

– Inbred line development

– Inbred line improvement

– Inbred line maintenance

– Evaluation for combining ability

– Hybrid development.

– Hybrid evaluation

INSPIRING GREATNESS
 Inbred line development
• An inbred line is a homozygous breeding line developed and maintained by
self-pollination

• Useful characteristic of inbred lines is that they provide repeatable parental

genotypes for creating hybrids and synthetic cultivars.

• The first step in making good inbred lines is choosing the correct source
material.

• Inbred lines developed by self-pollination or sib mating.

• Doubled haploid technique may be used.

INSPIRING GREATNESS
 Inbred line development
• Development of inbred lines (in cross-pollinated crops) usually begins with artificial self-
pollination (hand pollination) of individual S0 plants (original heterozygous selfed plant) in
a highly heterozygous and heterogeneous population.

• A progeny row of five or more S1 plants is planted from the seed of each selfed S0
plant. Plants in each row are self- pollinated by hand. Undesirable plants will be
discarded before harvest

• Methods that can be used include pedigree, bulk, single seed descent, and early
generation testing.

• The amount of inbreeding affects the vigour in inbred lines, ability to maintain their
genetic purity, the ease with which they are managed in a seed production field.

• The vigour of a line includes its ability to produce seed as a female parent or pollen as a
male parent.

INSPIRING GREATNESS
 Inbred line improvement
• Backcross method often used
• Lines that excel in most attributes but lack one or few desirable
characteristics are improved by this method.
• Characteristics improved are usually highly heritable such as resistance to
diseases or insect pests.
• Quantitative characteristics that are moderately heritable such as
– maturity, plant height, seed size, and shape may also be adjusted by
backcrossing

• If the desired character is genetically recessive, a selfed generation will be

required after each backcross to identify the desired genotypes.
INSPIRING GREATNESS
 Inbred line Maintenance
• Two methods used
• Ear-to-row method: Elite inbred lines are maintained by a system of
self-pollination and growing progenies in ear-to-rows
• Bulking: Elite inbred lines are maintained in a bulk block.
– The plant breeder plants the seed of an inbred line, selfs the plants; from
these a bulk sample is obtained for the next season.

INSPIRING GREATNESS
 Evaluation for combining ability
• After the desired level of homozygosity is attained, inbred lines are evaluated
for combining ability (potential to form high-yielding hybrids) in a test cross.
• Two steps usually make up a test cross: a crossing block, then a yield trial.
• Since inbreeding causes loss of vigor (which decreases yield), yield cannot
be selected for in the inbreeding stages; breeders select for yield in a test
cross.
• Also, for characteristics of complex inheritance such as grain yield in maize,
the choice of parent material is not a clear-cut decision.
• It is helpful if inbreds to be used as parents are assessed for their capacity to
transmit certain characteristics to their progeny (combining ability).

INSPIRING GREATNESS
 Evaluation for combining ability
• To evaluate many inbred lines for combining ability, a tester is used.
• There are two aspects of combining ability :
– general combining ability (GCA) which applies to all crosses, and
– specific combining ability (SCA) which refers to certain specific crosses
only.

• The type of tester to use for the evaluation of inbred lines in hybrid
combination depends primarily on whether information is desired on
GCA or SCA.

INSPIRING GREATNESS
 General Combining Ability
• General combining ability (GCA) is the average performance of an inbred line in a number of hybrid
combinations in comparison to the contribution of other inbred lines in the same series of hybrid
combinations
• Provides information on which inbred lines should produce the best hybrids when crossed with many other
lines.
• Evaluated by crossing a line with other inbred lines and comparing the overall performance of the single-
cross progenies.
• It evaluates the additive portion of the genetic effects
• Example:
– inbred lines A, B, C , D, E crossed in all possible combinations (diallel mating)
– Single cross hybrids evaluated in yield trials
– The inbred whose single cross has the highest average yield would have the greatest GCA
• Number of possible single-cross hybrids in a half-diallel = n(n-1)/2: where n = number of inbreds

INSPIRING GREATNESS
 General Combining Ability
• With large numbers of inbred lines – not feasible to conduct diallel mating

• Use testcross experiments (top crosses in maize breeding)

• Mixture of pollen used to pollinate the inbred lines (e.g from open-pollinated variety, double-
cross or single-cross hybrid) – highly correlated with the average performance of the inbred
line in different single-cross combinations

• Testers should be selected for their ability to determine which lines will combine well with
many other lines.

• Pollinating new inbred lines with heterogenous genotype proved to be an efficient tester

• Testcross progeny evaluated in yield trials and only inbred lines with superior GCA retained
for testing single cross combinations

INSPIRING GREATNESS
 Specific Combining Ability
• Specific combining ability (SCA) is the contribution of an inbred line to hybrid
performance in a cross with a specified inbred line, in relation to its
contributions in crosses with an array of specified inbred lines.
• In other words, it is the individual performance of an inbred line in a single
specific hybrid combination.
• It evaluates non-additive gene action (dominance, epistasis, digenic
interactions)
• It is utilized to identify inbred x inbred cross combination with superior
performance
• Cross inbred lines with superior GCA in all possible combinations (diallel
crossing)
INSPIRING GREATNESS
 Specific Combining Ability
• Example: A, B, C, D, E inbred lines, combination A x E produces highest single
cross yield performance, thus A x E has superior SCA
• Single-cross performance depends on favourable genes from each of the inbred
lines used in the cross
• Inbreds from unrelated populations – produce high-yielding single crosses more
frequently than inbreds from related material
• Information on specific combining ability may not provide reliable information
on the relative usefulness of an inbred line when crossed with other testers.
• Desirable single cross seed parents make excellent testers for determining
specific combining ability for three way crosses.

INSPIRING GREATNESS
Example: Test-Cross (Line x Tester) Mating Design
• Choice of testers is important

• The best tester is the one that:

– correctly classifies entries with the least amount of testing or

– one that combines simplicity in use with maximum information on the

performance to be expected from the tested lines when used in other
combinations or grown in other environments

• Both natural and artificial crossing can be used for test crossing in many
crop species

INSPIRING GREATNESS
Test-Cross (Line x Tester) Mating Design
• In the case of natural hybridization, an isolated crossing block is required.
• The tester is used as the male parent and the line or clone as the female
parent.
• The lines to be tested should therefore either be
– male-sterile or self-incompatible

– or they should be emasculated before pollen shed to prevent selfing.

• The ratio of the number of male rows to female rows varies with crop species.
• Artificial crossing is used if isolation is not possible.

INSPIRING GREATNESS
 Broad- versus narrow-based testers
• Testers should be selected for their ability to determine which lines will combine well
with many other lines.

• Because of their heterogeneity, open-pollinated varieties and synthetics are usually used
for determining general combining ability.

• Broad genetic base testers – open-pollinated cultivars

• Narrow-based testers - elite inbred lines, related inbreds lines, single crosses of related
lines

• Frequently used to evaluate GCA of new maize inbreds

• Growing the testcross progenies at multiple locations is essential to evaluate g x e

interactions and to identify inbred lines with stable progeny performance in a wide range
of environments

INSPIRING GREATNESS
 Diallel mating design
• The diallel cross can be defined as all crosses among a
group of parents including the parents themselves
• Produce the most accurate results and provide the most
genetic information
• Differ according to whether the parents selfed and/or the
reciprocal F1’s included.
• If reciprocals are excluded – diallel is termed half diallel

INSPIRING GREATNESS
 Example 2: Diallel Mating Design
• Full diallel cross or half-diallel

Females/males 1 2 3 4 5 means

1 X11 X21 X31 X41 X51 Y01

2 X12 X22 X32 X42 X52 Y02

3 X13 X23 X33 X43 X53 Y03

4 X14 X24 X34 X44 X54 Y04

5 X15 X25 X35 X45 X55 Y05

means Y10 Y20 Y30 Y40 Y50 Y

INSPIRING GREATNESS
Methods of diallel crossing proposed by Griffing, 1956
Method Characteristics Number of crosses
1. or Full diallel Parents (n*), F1 and reciprocals are n2 crosses
included

2. half-diallel, incl parents Parents and F1’s included, no [n(n+1)/2]

reciprocals

3. (full diallel minus selfs) F1’s and reciprocals include, no n2 – n or [n(n-1)]

parents

4. (half-diallel) F1’s included, no reciprocals, no [n(n-1) /2]

parents

*n = number of parents involved in the cross

INSPIRING GREATNESS
 Hybrid development
Done by controlled pollination of two or more lines.
• Single-cross – product of a cross between two inbred lines or pure-line cultivars
– Two parents used, which may or may not be completely homozygous.
– The parents are inbred lines that are relatively poor producers of seed and pollen; when
crossed resulting yield is very low
– Cost of producing single crossed seed is relatively high because seed was being produced
on weak and unproductive inbred plant
– But single-cross hybrids are the highest yielding of all maize seed types.
– Maintained as inbred lines.

Female inbred (A) x Male inbred (B)

Detasseled
Single-cross hybrid (A x B)
INSPIRING GREATNESS
 Modified single cross hybrid in maize
• In hybrid maize seed production, yield of the female parent is a major factor affecting
production costs.
• As an alternative to using an inbred line as the female parent, sister-lines (SLs),
• the F1 between two highly related inbred lines (A x A*), have been used in seed maize
production.
• The F1 (AXA*; i.e., SL) has been used as the female parent in the seed maize
production fields.
• Hybrids produced using SLs are referred to as modified single-cross (MSC) hybrids.
A x A*

F1 between related (sister) lines x Male inbred

(A x A’) (B)
Detasseled

Modified single-cross hybrid seed (A x A’) x (B)

NOTE: the * indicates sister line

INSPIRING GREATNESS
 Three—way hybrids
• Produced by combining a single-cross
o and an inbred line.
• Two inbred lines crossed initially to give an F1. The F1 is then crossed with another inbred line.
• The single cross (F1) is highly productive and serves as female and the inbred line serves as male
• Three-way cross hybrids yield less than single cross hybrids.
• An added step in the seed production process
• Less uniform than single-cross hybrids
• Maintained as inbred lines

Female inbred x Male Inbred

(A) (B)
Detasseled

Female Single-cross (A x B) x Male inbred

Detasseled (C)

Three-way cross hybrid seed

(A x B) x (C)

INSPIRING GREATNESS
 Double cross hybrids
• Double- cross hybrids are produced by crossing two different
single crosses, giving the pedigree [(AxB)x(CxD).].
• The female is a highly productive single- cross and the male is
also a single-cross that produces pollen abundantly.
• Double cross hybrid seed production is a practical and
economical way of producing adequate seeds for farmers
• Less cost of seed production because both parents are
hybrids
• Double cross hybrids yield less than three-way hybrids
• Maintained as inbred lines
• More variable than single or 3-way crosses thus allowing
breeders to bring more different desirable characteristics
together into one hybrid than is possible in a single cross.

INSPIRING GREATNESS
 Top Cross hybrids
• One of the parents is an open-pollinated variety and the other is a
single-cross hybrid or an inbred line.

• Top- cross hybrids are very useful at the initial stages of hybrid seed
production when seed companies are still learning the rudiments of
hybrid seed production.

INSPIRING GREATNESS
 Hybrid characteristics

• The characteristics of hybrid maize

– It is uniform in appearance
– It has vigour (heterosis)
– It is high yielding
– A particular hybrid can be selected for specific pest and disease
resistance or drought tolerance.

INSPIRING GREATNESS
Summary of factors that should be considered
during the production and marketing of various
types of hybrids

INSPIRING GREATNESS
 Open-Pollinated Varieties
• Open-pollination – occurs in cross-pollinated species where pollination occurs naturally
and randomly without restriction.
Important attributes of open-pollinated cultivars
• Easier seed multiplication and less costly.
• Broad-based (2 to many parents used)
• Have considerable genetic buffering capacity to withstand biotic and abiotic stresses.
• Stable yields; an OPV consists of plants of different genetic makeup (genotypes) that
respond differently to environmental stresses (e.g., moisture stress, diseases,
temperature, etc.) and, as a result, it is more tolerant to stress than a hybrid.
• Thus, OPVs are particularly useful in stress prone environments.
• Cultivars show more variation for important agronomic characteristics.

INSPIRING GREATNESS
 Open-Pollinated Varieties
• Seed is less expensive
• Seed can be retained and planted from season to season without suffering
considerable yield depression.
• Seed replacement is after 3 -4 years.
• Exhibit less heterosis – lower yields.
• Varietal maintenance is easier.
• F1 to F4 seed is planted.
• Communities can produce certified seed of OPVs.
• Essential to buy certified seed of an improved OPV every three to five years
in order to maintain its genetic purity.
INSPIRING GREATNESS
 Hybrids vs Open-Pollinated varieties

• Whether a farmer adopts an OPV or hybrid is primarily an economic choice conditioned

by additional factors as:
• Availability of quality seed
• Cost of the seed
• Cost of complementary inputs (mainly fertilizer)
• Expected yield
• Crop profitability
• Ability to finance purchase of needed inputs
• Risk of crop loss during the growing season (due to disease, drought, etc.)
• Stage of breeding programme.

INSPIRING GREATNESS
 Heterotic relationships/patterns
• The choice of germplasm is critical in hybrid breeding
• Selection of parents may involve consideration of heterotic relationships among available
genotypes
• Performance of a hybrid is a function of the amount of heterosis expressed in the cross
between two parents.
• Heterosis generally increases as the genetic diversity between the parents increases.
• Therefore, breeders of hybrid cultivars sometimes attempt to maintain two germplasm
pools (heterotic pools) that provide desired heterosis in crosses between them.
• Thus, heterotic pools should be highly heterotic. Heterotic pools should also be broad
based.
• It is important that heterotic pools are made as divergent as possible.

INSPIRING GREATNESS
 Heterotic relationships/patterns
• The probability of identifying superior crosses is greater between populations (germplasm
pools) of known heterotic patterns than within a population.

• Heterotic patterns have a strong impact on a breeding programme and once established
are not easy to change

• When you get new germplasm to enhance variation in your breeding programme, these
materials should be testcrossed to two or more heterotic stocks (testers).

• The entries showing heterosis with a tester are assigned to the opposite heterotic pool.

• It is more desirable to work with inbred lines when classifying germplasm into heterotic
pools.

• No germplasm should be put in both heterotic pools.

INSPIRING GREATNESS
 Heterosis
• Heterosis defined as the superiority of an F1 hybrid
over both of its parents in terms of yield or some
other character. o

• It generally leads to an increased vigour and

fertility (hybrid vigour/heterosis). See Figure 2.

• The parents do not have to be inbred for their

progeny to exhibit heterosis.

• Generally, heterosis is estimated as superiority of

F1 over the average performance of its two
parents, i.e., the mid-parent value.
Figure 2: The phenotypic effect of inbreeding and
• This is however of no use since it does not offer heterosis

the hybrid any advantage over the better parent.

INSPIRING GREATNESS
 Heterosis

• More generally heterosis is estimated over the superior parent.

o

• In some cases, heterosis estimated in relation to the best commercial variety grown
since commercial usefulness of a hybrid would primarily depend on its performance in
comparison to the best commercial variety of the concerned species.

• There are few cases where F1 hybrids are inferior to their parents, i.e., hybrid vigour in
the negative direction.

INSPIRING GREATNESS
 Manifestation of heterosis
• Increased yield

• Increased reproductive ability

• Increase in size and general vigour

• Better quality, e.g., hybrid onions

• Earlier flowering and maturity

• Greater resistance to diseases and pests

• Greater adaptability

• Faster growth rate.

INSPIRING GREATNESS
 Measurement of Heterosis
Mid-parent heterosis (%) = F1 − MP ×100
MP

This expresses heterosis over the mid-parent value.

High-parent heterosis (%) = F1 − HP ×100

HP

This expresses heterosis over the better parent of the cross.

Standard heterosis (%) = F1 − CV ×100

CV

This refers to heterosis over the standard check variety to show the superiority of
the hybrid over the prevalent variety.

F1 = performance of hybrid
Where,
MP = average performance of parents per se
HP = performance of best parent
CV = performance of standard check variety.

INSPIRING GREATNESS
 Reproduction Systems, Propagation
Methods and Types of Varieties
Type of variety/ (Modified from
Natural reproduction Breeding Category Becker, 1993)
Propagation
system process
Self-fertilization Self-fertilization Line varieties

Controlled crossing
Partially autogamous Hybrid, synthetic
Sexual

of parental
Partially allogamous varieties
components

Open pollinated
Cross-fertilization Open pollination
varieties
Vegetative
Clonal varieties
Asexual

propagation

Apomixis Apomictic hybrids Apomictic hybrids

• Differ in the degree of genetic variability maintained within the variety, in the degree of heterozygosity and in the easy with which they
can be reproduced. INSPIRING GREATNESS
 Genetic Variation within a variety

Uniform: All plants of a variety

(homogeneous) have the same
genotype

Heterogeneous All the plants of a

variety differ in their
genotypes

INSPIRING GREATNESS
 Genetic structure of varieties
• Pure line varieties of self-pollinated crops are homogeneous and homozygous and could
theoretically just be made up of one single genotype. That can easily be reproduced.

• Single-cross hybrids may also be made up of only one genotype (the offspring from a cross between
two homozygous parental lines). However, they have very high degree of heterozygosity and cannot be
easily reproduced by farmers.

• Other types of hybrids will have different levels of diversity within them, e.g., top cross hybrids where one
parent is an open-pollinated variety of a cross-pollinated crop.

• Open-pollinated varieties have a high degree of intra-varietal diversity. Heterozygosity is also present in
such varieties, depending on the outcrossing rate of the crop and the diversity of alleles for genes in the
population. Open-pollinated varieties can be reproduced easily if contamination with pollen from other
varieties can be prevented.

• Variety mixtures (multi-line varieties) of some landraces of self-pollinating crops maybe both
homozygous and heterogeneous. They are reproducible if natural selection pressures do not differ very
much from the conditions under which they are developed, so that specific types or components will not
disappear.

INSPIRING GREATNESS