Saw an overview of something strange:

http://www.ars.usda.gov/research/publications/publications.htm?seq_no_115=265689

Strange indeed. - Millet

How would that even work? Pull the embryos out of a seed and jam it in a rootstock t bud style?

Wow, I might pay to get the paper on that one. (Of course as a taxpayer I was held up to pay for the research).

I can see the utility in curing some cultivars of diseases that are not transmitted via seed but are present in all (most) representatives of that cultivar.

It is very simple: seeds are washed, seed coat is removed, longitudinal incision is made by the scalpel on cotyledons to insure the contact with rootstock .
The rest resembles bud grafting.

But what is the purpose? It will still be a juvenile plant...

They list a rapid growth of "seedlings" for hybrid selection and pathogen resistance studies.

" ...the seed grafting method has potential
applications in fruit tree breeding when the female
parent in a cross is mono-embryonic. In such situations,
hybrid germination, early growth and tree establishment
could be speeded-up considerably using the seed grafting
technique. In addition, this method could facilitate
screening and selection for resistance to fruit tree
diseases, in particular those caused by graft-transmissible
systemic pathogens. It could also facilitate selection
among seeds derived from different sources, including
seeds of extremely variable genetic backgrounds
obtained by crossing members of distant genera, or seeds
from variants of established varieties derived from
treatments with chemical mutagens or radiation.
Grafting seeds directly onto systemically-infected
rootstock plants would facilitate the rapid preliminary
evaluation and selection of grafted sprouts that appeared
normal and healthy, which may indicate resistance (or
tolerance) to a particular pathogen."

Thanks Ilya.

Very interesting!!!

As an example what can be achieved in 10 months with these "seedlings".



"Two 10-month-old ‘Minneola’ tangelo shoots (arrowed) derived from seeds grafted onto a ‘Troyer’ citrange seedling (Panel A). Arrows indicate the
two ‘Minneola’ shoots at the points of the grafts. A 10-month-old field-grown ‘Shamouti’ sweet orange tree grown from a seed grafted onto a ‘Troyer’
citrange seedling (Panels B, C). The circles encompass the region of the graft union, which is seen in a closer view in Panel C. The original ‘Troyer’
rootstock is the lower (darker) portion and the white atrophied “shoot” (“stick”)."

Wow, thanks Ilya!