Synthetic apomixis with normal hybrid rice seed production

Heterosis has long been exploited in the hybrid seed industry, which contributes to high and stable yields of modern agriculture (Huang et al., 2016). However, heterosis phenotypes of hybrid plants are segregated in its offspring. Apomixis allows instant fixation and propagation though seeds with heterozygous genotypes, showing great potential in plant breeding and agricultural practice (Ye and Cui, 2019). Apomixis naturally occurs in hundreds of plant species, but it is absent in major crop species (Underwood and Mercier, 2022).