De novo transcriptome sequencing and assembly from apomictic and sexual Eragrostis curvula genotypes.

A long-standing goal in plant breeding has been the ability to confer apomixis to agriculturally relevant species, which would require a deeper comprehension of the molecular basis of apomictic regulatory mechanisms. Eragrostis curvula (Schrad.) Nees is a perennial grass that includes both sexual and apomictic cytotypes.

Apomixis frequency under stress conditions in weeping lovegrass (Eragrostis curvula).

To overcome environmental stress, plants develop physiological responses that are triggered by genetic or epigenetic changes, some of which involve DNA methylation. It has been proposed that apomixis, the formation of asexual seeds without meiosis, occurs through the temporal or spatial deregulation of the sexual process mediated by genetic and epigenetic factors influenced by the environment. Here, we explored whether there was a link between the occurrence of apomixis and various factors that generate stress, including drought stress, in vitro culture, and intraspecific hybridization.

Increased apomixis expression concurrent with genetic and epigenetic variation in a newly synthesized Eragrostis curvula polyploid.

Eragrostis curvula includes biotypes reproducing through obligate and facultative apomixis or, rarely, full sexuality. We previously generated a "tetraploid-dihaploid-tetraploid" series of plants consisting of a tetraploid apomictic plant (T), a sexual dihaploid plant (D) and a tetraploid artificial colchiploid (C). Initially, plant C was nearly 100% sexual.