Embryo rescue technique and its applications for seedless breeding in grape

• Published in: Plant cell, tissue and organ culture Vol. 120; no. 3; pp. 861 - 880
• Main Authors: Li, Jun, Wang, Xianhang, Wang, Xiping, Wang, Yuejin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht Springer-Verlag 01.03.2015; Springer Netherlands; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Biomedical and Life Sciences; Cultivars; Embryos; Fruit crops; Fruits; Genetic crosses; genotype; Genotypes; Grapes; Growth regulators; Hybridization; Inoculation; Life Sciences; organ culture; plant breeders; Plant breeding; Plant Genetics and Genomics; Plant growth; plant growth substances; Plant Pathology; Plant Physiology; Plant Sciences; Progeny; Review; seedless varieties; triploidy; Vitaceae; Vitis vinifera; Genotype; Triploid grapes; Grape embryo rescue; Seedless grapes; Medium; Inter-specific hybridization
• ISSN: 0167-6857; 1573-5044
• DOI: 10.1007/s11240-014-0656-4

Grape (Vitis vinifera L.) is one of the most important fruit crops in the world and is subject to intense breeding efforts to develop new seedless cultivars. To overcome inherent obstacles associated with crossing seedless selections, in ovulo embryo rescue was developed and successfully utilized by plant breeders to rescue inherently weak, immature and/or abortive embryos, in order to obtain progeny from seedless × seedless crosses. To date, embryo rescue has been utilized in grape breeding for more than three decades. Genotype, sampling/inoculation time and medium are the most crucial and well-studied factors affecting the success of grape embryo rescue. Besides, other factors, such as the culture methods and utilization of plant growth regulators are also important for grape embryo rescue. Thus far, embryo rescue was extensively applied in rescuing inherently weak grape embryos, breeding seedless grapes and triploid grapes, and distant hybridization between different Vitis species. Although grape embryo rescue has been widely investigated, the development of improved cultivars is few. Breeding novel grape cultivars through embryo rescue is still a challenging and long-term task, which requires persistent effort of grape breeders. This review provides updated and comprehensive information concerning factors and applications of embryo rescue in grape.