Modification of centromere structure: A promising approach for haploid line production in plant breeding

Breeding based on doubled-haploid approaches has recently become a common tool for accelerating crop improvement in many plant species. However, many plant species do not have a reliable method for haploid induction. A promising new approach involving centromere engineering has recently been proposed to overcome this limitation. Here we provide a perspective of this novel method for the production of haploid plants, which was originally described in the model plant species Arabidopsis thaliana. Centromeres, known to be critical for the accurate distribution of chromosomes in every cell division, have now become a novel target for crop improvement by enabling doubled-haploid technologies.