Maize is a heterosis-utilizing crop species, and the application of maize hybrids has significantly improved total maize yields worldwide. Breeding pure lines is the most important part of heterosis utilization. The double haploid (DH) breeding technology is the approach rising recently in breeding pure lines; compared to the conventional recurrent-selfing method, it can significantly accelerate the crop breeding process. Similar to molecular breeding and transgenic techniques, maize DH breeding has been playing an increasingly important role in commercial breeding and is becoming the core technique in modern maize breeding. In this review, we summarize recent progress in maize DH breeding and put forth our opinions on the future development of double haploid techniques in modern maize breeding.

玉米是杂种优势利用作物品种，玉米杂交种的应用显着提高了全球玉米总产量。纯系选育是杂种优势利用的最重要部分。双单倍体(DH)育种技术是近年来兴起的纯系育种方法；与传统的轮回自交方法相比，它可以显着加速作物育种进程。与分子育种、转基因技术类似，玉米DH育种在商业育种中发挥着越来越重要的作用，正在成为现代玉米育种的核心技术。本文综述了玉米DH育种的最新进展，并对双单倍体技术在现代玉米育种中的未来发展提出了自己的看法。