Lecture 1. What is Plant Breeding

7/31/2019 Lecture 1. What is Plant Breeding

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Applied Crop ImprovementHRT 362

Lecture 1: What is plant breeding?


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Topics of this lecture:

Discuss what plant breeders do.

Describe what plant breeders haveaccomplished.


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What do plant breeders do?

Locate useful genetic variability

and assort it into new varieties
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://arabidopsisthaliana.com/strawberry/strawberry.jpg&imgrefurl=http://arabidopsisthaliana.com/strawberry/&h=414&w=682&sz=37&hl=en&start=1&um=1&tbnid=dlCUYZQkCpB8BM:&tbnh=84&tbnw=139&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dstrawberry%26svnum%3D10%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26rls%3DWZPA,WZPA:2005-36,WZPA:en%26sa%3DN


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Doebley, J.F., B.S. Gaut and B.D. Smith. 2006. Cell 127: 1309-1321

Examples of how wild plants have been improved by humans. Thewild progenitor species are on the left.


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Where do breeders get genetic

variability?

Easy to access

Improved varietiesHeritage varieties

Local varieties

Compatible wild relatives

Compatible wild relatives carry more geneticvariability than named varieties, but they also

carry many negative traits.
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://arabidopsisthaliana.com/strawberry/strawberry.jpg&imgrefurl=http://arabidopsisthaliana.com/strawberry/&h=414&w=682&sz=37&hl=en&start=1&um=1&tbnid=dlCUYZQkCpB8BM:&tbnh=84&tbnw=139&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dstrawberry%26svnum%3D10%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26rls%3DWZPA,WZPA:2005-36,WZPA:en%26sa%3DN


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The process of breeding has greatly reduced the genetic diversityof crops over time as we select only a few favored types each

generation.

Wild species Early domesticants Modern varieties

So, using wild plants as breeding parents often makes senseto improve traits like environmental adaptation, disease

resistance and flavor!

If we use colored dots to represent the amount of genetic diversity atdifferent levels of domestication:


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Fruit diversity in wild and local varieties of strawberries

RockyMountains

Chile

California

Ecuador


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Habitat diversity in wild strawberriesRocky Mountains

Rocky Mountains

Ecuador

California


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Wheat

BarleyPeaLentilFlax

RiceTaroYams

SugarcaneBananaEggplant

HempPeachMilletTea

Soybean

CowpeaFinger MilletPearl MilletRiceSorghum

Yam

CassavaYamWhite PotatoSweet Potato

MaizeTomatoSquashCotton

Beans

All crops have wild relatives somewhere. Here are the locationswhere our crops were originally domesticated by people.


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What are the other sources of

genetic variability? Easy to access

Difficult to access

Distant relatives

Induced mutations

Non-relatives

(GM crops)

Note! Small infertile pollen grainsfrom a partially fertile hybrid of

distantly related species


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What are the other sources of

genetic variability? Easy to access

Difficult to access

Distant relatives

Induced mutations

Non-relatives

(GM crops)

Plant breeders prefer to work with more fertile, easy to access

parents, but will use more distant relatives if they have no other

source of variability for traits of interest!


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What technologies are used by

plant breeders?

Traditional

Emasculation, hybridization, selection,male sterility, statistics, tissue culture,chromosome doubling & triploidy

Biotechnological

Marker assisted breeding,mutagenesis, tissue culture,recombinant DNA techniques (GMO)

These technologies are covered in other modules!


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What have plant breeders

accomplished? Fought hunger

Made food healthier

Improved crop resistance to abioticand biotic stresses

Adapted crops to specific

production systems Diversified markets

Developed new horticulturalvarieties


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One breeder was particularly

important: Norman Borlaug

Nobel Peace Prize in1970 for curbing hunger

in Asia and other partsof the world.


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Landmark achievements of Norman

BorlaugGreen Revolution

Increased wheat yield over

400% in Mexico in the 1960sand transferred the success toPakistan, India and Turkey

Did the same thing with rice,first in the Philippines andthen the rest of Asia


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Norman Borlaug, GreenRevolution Pioneer

Interesting videos on this module:

Recent Purdue plantbreeder that won the

world food prize


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Plant breeders help feed the world

A couple more interesting videos

Agriculture is under pressure


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What have plant breedersaccomplished

Fought hunger

Made food healthier

Improved crop resistance to abiotic andbiotic stresses

Adapted crops to specific productionsystems

Diversified markets

Developed new horticultural varieties


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Examples of breeding for enhanced

nutritional composition

High lysine corn forimproved nutrition

High oleic acids insoybean

High vitamin A rice

(golden rice)


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Golden rice

Some interesting videos on improving nutrition:

High oleic acid soybeans


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Fought hunger

Made food healthier

Improved crop resistance to abiotic andbiotic stresses

Adapted crops to specific productionsystems

Diversified markets Developed new horticultural varieties


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Examples of breeding for

improved adaptation: Salt and drought

tolerance

Cold tolerance Disease and insect

resistance

Photoperiodinsensitive cultivars

http://www.knowledgebank.irri.org/ricebreedingcourse/Breeding_for_salt_tolerance.htm


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Plant breeding solves

disease problems

Some interesting videos on improving adaptations:

Cold hardy grapes feedlocal wine industry


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What have plant breedersaccomplished?

Fought hunger

Made food healthier

Improved crop resistance to abiotic and

biotic stresses Adapted crops to specific production

systems



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Breeding for specific production

systems Rain-fed or irrigated

agriculture

Mechanized vs. non-mechanized

Rice upland vs.

paddy Organic insect and

disease resistance

Blueberry harvestor


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What have plant breedersaccomplished?

Fought hunger

Made food healthier



systems



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Diversified markets

Table vs winegrapes

Potatoes for chipsvs. baking

Blueberries for

cereal vs. pies


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Interesting videos on diversifying crop markets:

Technology in grape breeding Fields of study: Pepper breeding


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Fought hunger

Made food healthier



systems



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Developed new horticultural

varieties New colors, sizes

and shapes in

ornamental cultivars Fruits and

vegetables withsuperior yield,

nutritional qualitiesand general appeal

http://www.calla-lily.com/images/picante.gif


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Breeding apples atUniversity of Minnesota

Some interesting videos on developing new varieties:

Plant breeding with Jim Ault


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Future of plant breeding?

A little scary!

Total number of trained plant breeders

is diminishing, while demand isincreasing

Number of public plant breeders has

gone down It is a great timeto become a

plant breeder!


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Future of plant breeding

An interesting video on the future of plant breeding:


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The end !

Recommended next:Principles of inheritance

Lecture 1. What is Plant Breeding

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