ABSTRACT
The interest in haploids stems largely from their considerable potential in plant breeding, especially for the production of homozygous plants and in their studies on the detection of mutations. Haploid plants can be produced through in vitro culture of male gametophytic cells, i.e. microspores or immature pollen. Haploid production through anther culture/ microspore has been referred to as androgenesis while gynogenesis is the production of haploid plants from ovary or ovule culture where the female gamete or gametophyte is triggered to sporophytic development. The process of androgenesis has shown that microspores undergo divisions, which continues until a 40–50 celled proembryo is formed. The wide range of ploidy levels seen in androgenetic plants has been attributed to endomitosis and/ or fusion of various nuclei. Haploid plants have been described as gynogenic as compared to androgenic plants derived from microspores. In tree species, gynogenic plants were reported in mulberry, an important tree for nourishing silkworms for use in the silk industry.
