Abstract

F1 hybrids can produce spectacular yields compared to conventional varieties and are a breeding goal for most crops. The prime example is hybrid maize where yields were increased 6-fold. F1 hybrids are now available in many commercially important plants. Oil palm has lagged behind due to the inability to produce the pure (homozygous) parental lines required for F1 hybrid breeding. However, it is estimated that F1 hybrid oil palm would yield up to three times that of current varieties thus significantly affecting the area that needs planting to obtain the same oil yield. Homozygous lines may be produced by doubled haploid biotechnologies, but the in vitro methods used in other crops have proved ineffective in oil palm. A major breakthrough came with our discovery that haploid seedlings occurred naturally in oil palm albeit at extremely low frequencies. Pre-screening of ‘off-type’ seedlings, the application of molecular markers (zygosity testing) and flow cytometry (ploidy detection) have boosted production to 50 haploids per month. Haploids are the precursors of doubled haploids and their conversion may be spontaneous or induced. One innovation in haploid tissue culture results is the clonal production of doubled haploids. Over two thousand haploids have now been produced from a wide range of oil palm genotypes including commercial dura and pisifera types. Fertile doubled haploids are now available for crossing to evaluate parental combinations that maximise hybrid vigour. The process to produce F1 hybrids is novel; it is based on naturally occurring haploids and does not involve GMO technology.