In quantitative genetics, computer simulation is commonly used to evaluate alternative plant breeding strateFunctional genomics is the systematic study of genome-wide effects gies on the basis of stochastic descriptions of gene action of gene expression on organism growth and development with the ultimate aim of understanding how networks of genes influence traits. and interaction (e.g., Hospit...

The intellectual property rights (IPR) landscape for plant germplasm has changed dramatically over the past 50 years, moving from the public domain into proprietary structures. Using carrot as a model crop, we explored the freedom to operate for plant breeding and research in relation to the diversity present in 140 commercially available cultivars in the United States. To determine freedom to ...

Introduction The potato (Solanum tuberosum) originated from South America and is now the third largest crop in the world, after rice and wheat. Potato is a cross pollinated and vegetatively propagated crop, with a genome size around 840 MB, which was recently sequenced. Most potato cultivars are autotetraploid, with breeding programs lasting for 12–15 years. Among many biotic and abiotic stress...

The crop legumes such as chickpea, common bean, cowpea, peanut, pigeonpea, soybean, etc. are important sources of nutrition and contribute to a significant amount of biological nitrogen fixation (>20 million tons of fixed nitrogen) in agriculture. However, the production of legumes is constrained due to abiotic and biotic stresses. It is therefore imperative to understand the molecular mechanis...

In perennial energy crop breeding programmes, it can take several years before a mature yield is reached when potential new varieties can be scored. Modern plant breeding technologies have focussed on molecular markers, but for many crop species, this technology is unavailable. Therefore, prematurity predictors of harvestable yield would accelerate the release of new varieties. Metabolic biomar...

Biotic stresses pose a major threat to crop productivity. Crops are challenged by a plethora of biotic stresses, but only a limited number of key pests and diseases cause the vast majority of economic losses in a particular crop. Plant protection measures such as application of pesticides and deployment of resistant gene(s)/quantitative trait loci (QTLs) into cultivars have so far been quite su...

18 Improving arable crops Nitrogen Use Efficiency (NUE) is a major target of plant breeding. In 19 wheat, a large part of the Nitrogen (N) harvested in the grain originates from N remobilization 20 from vegetative organs during the post-anthesis period. While N remobilization from above-21 ground organs such as leaves and stems has been extensively studied, studies about N 22 remobilization fro...

A symposium was hosted 10 to 11 Mar. 2005 at Michigan State University to discuss the future of plant breeding education at public institutions. Plant breeding remains a vibrant, multidisciplinary science characterized by its ability to reinvent itself by absorbing and utilizing novel scientific findings and technical approaches. A contemporary breeding curriculum should include hands-on experi...

ity of a beef operation is the percentage of the calf crop weaned, which, in turn, is determined mainly by the number of cows bred during the breeding season. The herd bull influences overall herd fertility more than any other single animal. Because the bull also supplies half of the genetics to all of the calves he sires, bull selection can be the most powerful method of genetic improvement in...

The dissection of gene-trait associations and its translation into practice through plant breeding is a central aspect of modern plant biology. The identification of genes underlying simply inherited traits has been very successful. However, the identification of gene-trait associations for complex (multi-genic) traits in crop plants with large, often polyploid genomes has been limited by the a...