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Nathan Schnur
Overview
What is Plant Breeding? Basic Genetics Mendelian Genetics Principles of Breeding Maize Plant Breeding Methods
Plant Breeding
What is it?
Is the science and art of improving crop plants through the study and application of genetics, agronomy, statistics, plant pathology, entomology, and other related sciences. Nutritional enhancement, yield improvement, environmental stress tolerance, improved plant structure, or pest and disease resistance
Goals
DNA
Primary carries of heritable information Composed of thousands of genes Contain actual heritable information There can be many versions of genes called alleles
Genes
Two dominant alleles are denoted as AA and called homozygous dominant Two recessive alleles are denoted as aa and called homozygous recessive If one dominant and one recessive allele is present then it is denoted as Aa and called heterozygous.
Alleles which are heterozygous or homozygous affect the phenotypes and genotypes of plants Phenotype
Genotype
Mendelian Genetics
Gregor Mendel
Famous geneticist from 1800s His research consisted of selectively breeding garden peas He developed two important laws of genetics
Inbreeding
Main Goals
Increase the homozygosity at all or specific loci in the plant genome Produce a plant which breeds true Produce uniform plants
Hybridization of Maize
Hybridization occurs when inbred parents are mated (cross pollinated) Creates a heterozygous individual Benefits Increased heterosis (vigor) in F1 generation
This causes all loci to become heterozygous The increased heterozygosity causes increased plant vigor Increased yield Better standability Better germination Overall better plant performance
Selfing
Selfing is the process of pollinating a plant with its own pollen Benefits
Increased homozygosity Plants which breed true from generation to generation Decreased Segregation
Many generations of selfing lead to inbreeding depression
Disadvantages
Ex. By crossing Inbred A x Inbred a you would obtain an F1 hybrid Aa Crossing is used to produce the hybrid seed farmers use to plant in the spring
Backcrossing
Backcrossing is a method which is used to improve a trait which a plant is deficient in. Method
A hybrid plant which has the trait of interest is crossed with one of its parents The offspring are then crossed back to the parent, thus increasing the frequency of the trait.
Conclusion
Plant breeding is a complicated but beneficial process. There are many processes involved which are used in the development of new varieties. Remember if it wasnt for plant breeding we wouldnt have such high yielding crops
References
Questions
Questions?