The invention concerns a method for identifying in Gramineae, more particularly in maize, a nucleotide sequence involved in the apomixis in apomictic plants. The method relates to identifying the genome of the Gramineae, by phenotypic analysis, genetic mapping and marking by means of transposons, of the meiotic mutations whereof the corresponding gene is shown to be orthologous to genes involved in the expression of apomixis. The invention also concerns the use of a cloned gene in the Gramineae to identify and isolate the orthologous gene sequence in apomictic plants. The invention further concerns the use or modification of the isolated sequence in apomictic forms for inducing an apomictic development in sexual plants.