• Korean Journal of Plant Tissue Culture
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.239-256
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• 1997

Plants belonging to the category of 2n apomixis or agamospermy form embryos and seeds without the processes of normal meiosis and syngamy. Seeds produced in this way have identical genotype of their maternal parent. Three different types of agamospermy are recognized: diplospory, apospory, and adventitious (adventive) embryony. $F_1$ hybrid cultivars cannot be used as seed sources in the next ($F_2$) generation because this generation would be extremely variable as a result of genetic segregation. Hybrid vigor is also reduced in the $F_2$ generation. Therefore, parental stocks for hybrid seed production need to be maintained and cross must be continuously repeated. Agamospermic 2n apomixis would make it possible to fix the genotype of a superior variety so that clonal seeds faithfully representing that genotype could be continuously and cheaply produced independent of pollination. That is, $F_1$ hybrid seeds could be produced for many generations without loss of vigor or genotype alteration. Production of apomictic $F_1$ hybrid seed would be simplified because line isolation would not be necessary to produce seed or to maintain parental lines, and the use of male-sterile lines could be avoided. Overall, apomixis would enable a significant reduction in hybrid seed production costs. Additionally, the production of clonal seed is not only important for seed propagated crops, but also for the propagation of heterozygous fruit trees and timbers. Clonal seed would help avoid costly and time-consuming vegetative propagating methods that are currently used to ensure the large-scale production of these plants. Apomixis is scattered throughout the plant kingdom, but few important agricultural crops possess this trait Therefore, most research to date has centered on introgressing the trait of apomixis into agricultural crops such as wheat, maize, and some forage grasses from wild distant relatives by traditional cross breeding. The classical breeding approach, however is slow and often impeded by many breeding barriers. These problems could be surmounted by taking mutagenesis or molecular approach. Arabidopsis thaliana is a tiny sexually reproducing plant and is convenient in constructing and screening in molecular researches. Male-sterile mutants of Arabidopsis are particularly suitable genetic background for mutagenesis and screening for apomictic mutants. Molecular approaches towards isolating the genes controlling the apomictic process are feasible. Direct isolation of genes conferring apomixis development would greatly facilitate the transfer of this trait to wide variety of crops. Such studies are now in progress.

• Korean Journal of Plant Taxonomy
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.153-166
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• 2004

Genus Taraxacum propagated through diploid sexual reproduction and polyploid agamospermy. The cluster analysis of Korean(2 species, 4 population), Japanese (2 species 4 taxa 6 population) and Taiwanese (1 species, 3 population) Taraxacum species using 15 measured capitulum morphological characters was conducted to study the speciation of diploid Taraxacum in East Asia. We measured 15 capitulum morphological characters including length of capitulum, length and shape of outer-involucre, corniculate appandage. Within one population, these characters were very various and were overlapped. The result of cluster analysis using morphological character showed that all species were clustered into four groups (Korean species & T. japonicum group, T. platycarpum subspecies group, T. platycarpum subsp. hodense group, T. formosanum group). Korean species, T. hallaisanense (diploid) and T. ohiwanum (diploid, triploid) were clustered into T. japonicum that was occurred in Kansai provinces of Japan. Therefore, we could infer that Korean species was closely related to Japanese T. japonicum of Japanese species.