Lethals can be estimated from doubled haploid Larix decidua female gametophytes

Authors

  • Claire Williams American University
  • Patrick von Aderkas University of Victoria

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.21750/REFOR.19.03.124

Keywords:

inbred lines, inbreeding depression, larch, embryo lethals, dihaploids, doubled female gametophytes, deleterious alleles

Abstract

We present a novel way of estimating embryo lethals using doubled haploid (dihaploid or DH) female gametophytes grown in tissue culture. This DH-based lethals estimate is hypothesized to be lower than the more common method where lethals are estimated from one generation of selfing. The chief reasoning is the early mortality spike observed for selfed embryos of larch and other genera in the Pinaceae. This early mortality spike occurs at the stage when diploid embryos embed into haploid female gametophyte tissue. However, this stage is missing for DH embryos which grow in a petri dish thus the DH lethals estimate is hypothesized to be lower compared to seed counts.

This DH estimate is based on 20,000 haploid female gametophytes cultures from which two surviving diploidized embryos were recovered. Lethals based on diploidized haploids (DH) have not been reported for a conifer previously because, aside from larch, only a few conifer species continue female gametophyte development in absence of pollen.

Our chief finding is that, contrary to our hypothesis, the DH-based lethals estimate was similar to lethals estimated obtained from selfed seeds in published studies. Thus doubling haploid female gametophytes can be used to estimate embryo lethals when diploidization is conducted on a massive scale.

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Author Biographies

  • Claire Williams, American University

    Research Professor, Department of Environmental Sciences, American University, Washington D.C. USA

  • Patrick von Aderkas, University of Victoria

    Professor, Forest Biology Centre, University of Victoria, Victoria British Columbia Canada

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Published

2025-07-04

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Section

Articles

How to Cite

Williams, Claire, and Patrick von Aderkas. “Lethals Can Be Estimated from Doubled Haploid Larix Decidua Female Gametophytes”. REFORESTA, no. 19 (July 4, 2025): 27–34. Accessed July 8, 2025. https://journal.reforestationchallenges.org/index.php/REFOR/article/view/233.

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