ABSTRACT
Broccoli (Brassica olearecea var. italica) is a cole crop grown for its floral heads and stalks. It is rich in bioactive chemicals good for human health. Broccoli has been consumed as a vegetable since Roman times, but its production and consumption have increased significantly over the past few decades. Breeders try to develop new broccoli varieties with high yield, improved quality, and resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses. Almost all new broccoli varieties are F1 hybrids. Development of inbred broccoli lines that can be used as parents in hybrid production is a time-consuming and difficult process. Haploidization techniques can be utilized as a valuable support in broccoli breeding programs to speed up the production of genetically pure genotypes. Haploid plants of broccoli can be produced from immature male gametophytes via anther and microspore cultures with similar success rates. The most important parameters affecting the success of haploidization in broccoli are the genetic background (genotype) and the developmental stage of the microspores. Broccoli genotypes differ in their responses to androgenesis induction. The highest androgenesis response could be induced from microspores in late uninucleate and early binucleate stages. Recovery of diploid broccoli plants from haploids is possible via spontaneous and induced doubling. Doubled haploid (DH) broccoli lines are considered to be fully homozygous. Therefore, the production of DH lines is an alternative way to obtain pure inbred lines that can be utilized as parents in the development of new F1 hybrid varieties showing high levels of heterosis, high-quality heads, and uniform harvestable crop. We are using an anther culture-based haploid plant production system to develop DH broccoli lines in our broccoli breeding program. DH broccoli lines are produced from different genetic backgrounds within a year and handed to broccoli breeders.