INDUCTION OF HAPLOIDY IN FRUIT TREES

Studies on the induction of haploid plants in fruit trees that started in the beginning of the 1970s concentrated on in vitro androgenesis of stone and pome fruit species.
Androgenic calli have been obtained in various Prunus species and in Pyrus communis; androgenic embryos and plants have been produced in the cultivated apple (Malus x domestica) and in Chinese crab apple (Malus prunifolia). In the cultivated apple, immature embryos have been achieved via in vitro gynogenesis.

Haploid plants of apple have been obtained from in situ parthenogenesis induced by irradiated pollen and in vitro culture of immature embryos.
This new haploidization technique seems promising for fruit tree species for which in vitro androgenesis and gynogenesis have not yet been successful.