Fertilization and uniparental chromosome elimination during crosses with maize haploid inducers

Producing maternal haploids via a male inducer can greatly accelerate maize (Zea mays) breeding process. However, the mechanism underlying haploid formation remains unclear. In this study, we constructed two inducer lines containing cytogenetic marker B chromosome or alien centromeric histone H3 variant-yellow fluorescent protein vector to investigate the mechanism. The two inducer lines as the pollinators were crossed with a hybrid ZhengDan958. B chromosomes were detected in F1 haploids at a low frequency, which was direct evidence to support the occurrence of selective chromosome elimination during haploid formation. We found that most of the inducer chromosomes were eliminated in haploid embryonic cells during the first week after pollination. The gradual elimination of chromosomes was also detected in the endosperm of defective kernels, although it occurred only in some endosperm cells as late as 15 d after pollination. We also performed a genome-wide identification of single nucleotide polymorphism markers in the inducers, noninducer inbred lines, and 42 derived haploids using a 50K single nucleotide polymorphism array. We found that an approximately 44-Mb heterozygous fragment from the male parent was detected in a single haploid, which further supported the occurrence of paternal introgression. Our results suggest that selective elimination of uniparental chromosomes leads to the formation of haploid and possible defective kernels in maize as well, which is accompanied with unusual paternal introgression in haploid cells.