The generation of haploids is one of the most powerful means to accelerate the plant breeding process. In most crop species however, viable haploid technology is not yet available or only applicable to a limited set of genotypes, although the generation of haploid plants can be achieved by various approaches. To overcome this limitation we aim, (I) to adapt an already for Arabidopsis available centromere-based haploidization method for crop plants, (II) to decipher alternative mechanisms of haploidization in maize and Arabidopsis, and (III) to optimize novel methods of genome engineering to enable the application of the uniparental chromosome elimination-based haploidization principle in a wide range of crop species.

The overall goal of the project is to apply pre-existing and additionally gained knowledge on uniparental genome elimination-based haploidization in breeding practice. As a result, both the technical opportunities and the efficacy of breeding programs are expected to be strongly improved, which will eventually lead to a sustainable contribution of the project to enhancement of selection gain in crop plant breeding. In addition, the adoption of the newly developed RNA-guided endonuclease (also called CRISPR/Cas) technology for plants will allow for the targeted in planta modification of centromeric key genes involved in haploidization, but also any other gene of interest in the context of improved crop plant performance. The first technical solutions as exemplified in the project will then be instrumental for the establishment of commercially useful haploid technology in numerous further cultivated crops.

In order to achieve these goals, a team of internationally recognized specialists in the area of centromere biology, reproduction and genome engineering in cooperation with the plant breeding company KWS joined efforts and complementary expertise to tackle these challenging aims. Beside Arabidopsis (eudicot) and maize (monocot) it is intended to employ the temperate cereal barley and the vegetable carrot in the first three years phase of the project. After establishment and optimization of targeted haploidization and genome engineering methods, other crop species like e.g. sugar beet, sunflower, tomato and rye will be included in further cooperation with KWS during subsequent more application driven phases of the project. Reaching the goals described above contributes to the knowledge-based bioeconomy as it relevant for innovative and predictive plant breeding.