Haploid plants can be treated with colchicine to produce diploid sectors or plants and are called doubled haploids. Haploid plants are useful in mutation studies. Selection for dominant alleles is easier in haploids. Since haploid, only 1 allele per locus so if dominant, then doubled, the doubled plant has 2 copies of the dominant allele. Otherwise, the dominant allele could mask the recessive allele and generations of selfing may be needed to eliminate the recessive allele from the population.
Genetic segregation can be less complex in polyhaploids.
Haploids are useful in cytogenetic studies of polyploids because monosomic series can then be derived. Polyhaploids may be used to transfer genes from the polyploid to the related diploid species. In species with systems of self-incompatibility doubled haploids offer a means of producing inbred stocks. We must be able to have simple and reliable procedures for producing haploids if we are going to incorporate them successfully in a breeding program. The identification and diploidization of naturally occurring haploids.