Corn Breeding OverviewAnkeny Investor Field Day

August 22, 2005Mark Messmer, Corn Commercial Breeding Lead

Monsanto Company

2

MON Corn Breeding Keys To Success

Line Review Worksheet

Show selected lines only ExportLines Nursery notes

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YLD % of Check Mean Keep Plot Lineage Trait 1 Trait 2 Trait 3 Comments

x 110 14011 :@>0003.1001.4001. 7 5 22 nice95 X 14012 :@>0003.1001.4002. 6 6 24 better85 Breeder Comments

x 120 Advance this line into PCM1 on 6 testers

101x 105

87Data GCA SCA

Line Data Double click entry to show Set data sheetSelect Set Entry Tester Gen # Loc SELIN YLD MST TWT YM RTLP STLP PHT EHT CZ INT FSP DRP ERM

GCA All 39 120 120 105 97 120 220 105 100 75 75 100 114X C7201 5 19HGZ1 F4 13 140 250 18.5 56.3 14 15 115 53 1 99 113

C8202 4 80IDM2 F4 13 103 229 19.1 56.7 12 2 116 44 3 4 100 114X C8207 12 LH283 F4 13 113 226 19 57 12 1 118 42 5 4 100 115

C8101 26 :@>0003+ F3 7 132 241 18 56 13 6 112 51 2 99 113

Rank Data Ranks DataSet Entry Tester Overall Loc 1 Loc 2 Loc 3 Loc 4 Loc 5 Loc 6 Loc 7 Loc 8 Loc 9 Loc 10 Loc 11 Loc 12 Loc 13 Loc 14 Loc 15

Mean Yield 140 150 160 165 170 175 180 185 190 200 210 215 300C7201 5 19HGZ1 1 45 55 66 33 20 5 4 4 3 2 2 1 2C8202 4 80IDM2 18 50 66 33 21 30 40 5 6 7 8 2 1 3C8207 12 LH283 16 60 12 20 30 8 8 5 4 10 12 2 8 4

C7201 5 19HGZ1 2 1 5 8 25 47 36 22 1 1 5 4 3 8C8202 4 80IDM2 4 2 5 22 44 56 12 11 5 8 22 14 16 55C8207 12 LH283 16 14 22 11 10 1 17 27 26 5 4 9 8 7

08_01DKD2*2/7640:@>0126.1001.08_01DKD2*2/7640:@>0160.1002.08_01DKD2*2/7640:@>0171.1003.

08_01DKD2*2/7640:@>0003.1001.

Pedigree08_01DKD2*2/7640:@>0003.1001.08_01DKD2*2/7640:@>0102.1001.

08_01DKD2*2/7640:@>0175.1002.

Checks Check mean08_01DKD2*2/7640:@>0179.1003.

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Green - Hybrid above chk mRed - Hybrid below chk mea

• Structured to support commercial strategy

– Multiple channels

• Automating the Breeding Process

– Driving experimental product numbers game

• Germplasm Diversity– Broad and deep

• Marker Assisted Line Development

– An SOP Enhancing the probability of breeding success

• Pipeline Depth– More improved products

3

00.10.20.30.40.50.60.70.80.9

1

Breeding TechnologyLine Development

Commercial Development Linkages andExchange of informationAre key to Success.

NewTechnology

LINEDEVELOPMENT

Breeding

BREEDINGTECHNOLOGY

COMMERCIAL BREEDING

• Marker Labs• Statistics• Disease and Insect• Winter Nurseries• Discovery Breeding

• F1 to national testing

• Quality grain programs

• Product Characterization

• Channel Tech Support

• Testing• QA/QC

Corn Breeding Structure is Designed to Support MultipleCommercial Channels

PRO

DU

CT

MAN

AGEM

ENT

CHANNEL DEPLOYMENT

• Channel Strategy• Channel Needs• Comm Development

• MON Brands• National Partners• Regional Partners• Local Partners

4

Regional Breeding Teams Tie Breeding Functions Together

NorthNorth

W. CentralW. Central E. CentralE. Central

SouthSouthRegional Breeding Team Objectives:

1. Focus on most elite germplasm

2. Maintain important germplasm types

3. Enhance Product diversity

4. Enhance breeder germplasm knowledge and info exchange

5. Breeder synergy to identify and support customer needs

5

Expansive breeding and testing geography enables effective product identification and placement

6

Shelling Grading Waste Discard

Color Sorting

Culls and KeepsSeed TreatmentFinished Product Ready to Packet

State of the Art Automated Experimental Seed Processing Sets the Stage for Outstanding Field Data Quality

7

Investment in State of the Art Field Plot Equipment Enables Direct Mimicking of Farmer Practices and Timing

~50% Increase in Plot Testing Capacity Over the Past Two Years

8

Plant Breeding: What do we actually do?

• Plant Breeding – is the science, art, and businessof improving plants for human benefit.

• Easy Description– Cross good germplasm by good germplasm– Generate a series of genetically different exptl. parents– Pick the right tester – Select the best experimental line via extensive field

testing• More complicated Description

delta(G)=1/C(0.25*k1*V(a)1.2/sqrt(V(P)1.2) + 0.25*k2*V(a)2.1/sqrt(V(P))2.1)

9

Vast germplasm resources enable deployment of differentiated product portfolios

Holden’s

DEKALBUSA

Asgrow USA

Cargill Int’l

Sensako Agroceres

DEKALB Int’l

AsgrowInt’l

50% of breeding pop’n are “inter-company” crosses

Inter-companyCrosses

12 countries and 3 companies/country = 36 major germplasm acquisitions

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Yield from Parent 2Yield from Parent 1

1 2 5 6 7 8 9 103 4

Corn has many thousands of genes, hundreds of which probably affect yield

Over 3 billion different genotypes result from just 2 forms of each of 20 genes

The Dilemma:Germplasm Sources X Genes

Marker-Assisted Recurrent Selection (MARS) rapidly increases the frequency of favorable genes

TissueSampling

DNA extraction

Generate Marker Fingerprint

Data Analysis

Selection and Recombination

GenotypingLab

Breeder

Multiple cycles of MARS increases the frequency of favorable marker alleles associated with agronomic traits

Multiplecycles

0.4

0.5

0.6

0.7

0.8

0.9

1.0

Freq

uenc

y of

Fav

orab

le G

ene

C0 C1 C2 C3

12

Marker Assisted Breeding:Sorting the Germplasm and Genes…A Vastly Enhanced Numbers Game

Frequency of:Cycle of Selection

A Favorable Allele

The Best Genotype

0 0.51 2 per tr illion1 0.62 5 per billion2 0.81 1 per 50003 0.96 1 in 5

*Assumes 20 independent regions and 5% selection intensity

Start

End

Yield from Parent 2Yield from Parent 1

Mapping QTL position, size, and favorable parent

13

RUBICON: Integrate and Analyze Field and Marker data

DataData Decisions

Breeders Build an Optimized Genetic Model for Every Breeding Population and use MARS to Toward the Model

Select Traits

Quality metricsPredicted Model Response

Parental Contribution

Identify and Select QTLs

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Year 1

Marker Characterization Early in the Breeding Enhances Probability of Success Late in the Process

Recombine genes

Select best based on phenotype

Yield test

Select best

Yield test

Commercialize

X6-to 8-year

process6-to 8-year

process

Years 2-6

Year 7 Commercial product success rate < 1%

Commercial product success rate < 1%

Marker Marker CharacterizationCharacterization

MarkerMarker--Assis

tedAssis

ted

Recurrent Selection

Recurrent Selection

120,000+

10’s

Genotypic and phenotypic selection of parents

15

Marker Assisted Breeding Drives Increased Genetic Gain

MTI = Multiple Trait Index that combines multiple traits like grain yield, grain moisture, standability, and test weight.

0.00.20.40.60.81.01.21.41.61.8

MTI

val

ue (P

aren

t = 0

)

2002 2003 2004 All Years

Conventional Markers

2x Improvement

16

MON New 2005 Commercials Competitive Leader HybridsMON 2005 PCM4sMON Brand Leader hybridsDenotes YG hybrid

85

90

95

100

105

110

115

120

DK53

7

DKC57

-01

NA56

05NRR1

NB55

01

NB59

01

NC53

01

NC53

05

NC53

08

NC53

10

NC54

06

NB54

05

NC55

02

NC56

07

NC57

02

NC57

06

PION36

B08

PION35

Y54

PION35

Y65

85

90

95

100

105

110

115

120

DKC51

-43

DK53

7

NB46

02

NC48

01

NB51

01NRR1

NC52

05

NC52

08

NC52

09

NC52

10

NB51

01

PION38

H67

PION36

N70

85

90

95

100

105

110

115

120

DK44

0

DKC46

-26

DKC44

-46

DKC47

-10

NC45

04

NC47

02

NC45

05

NC45

01EZ

A1

NB46

01

NB47

03

NC46

03

NC49

02

PION38

A24

PION38

A25

85

90

95

100

105

110

115

120

DKC60-15

RX7

40

DKC60-19

RX7

18RR/YG

NC6104

NC5801

NC5802

NC5808

NC5809

NC5902

NC5903

NC5907

NC5910

PION34H31

PION34M94

PION34M95

PION33N44

`

95 RM 100 RM

105 RM 108-109 RM

A full pipeline enables continued support of growth via the commercial strategy (95 - 109 RM)

17

MON New 2005 Commercials

Competitive Leader Hybrids

MON 2005 PCM4s

MON Brand Leader hybrids

Denotes YG hybrid

110-112 RM

116-117 RM

113-115 RM

85

90

95

100

105

110

115

120

DKC60

-15

RX7

40

DKC60

-19

RX7

18RR/YG

NB61

04

NB61

06

NC60

09

NC62

10

NC62

13

NC62

14

NC62

15EZ

A1

PION34

H31

PION34

M94

PION34

M95

PION33

N44

`

85

90

95

100

105

110

115

120

DK

C63

-50

DK

C63

-79

DK

C63

-78

DK

C64

-10

NB

6402

NR

R1

NB

6504

EZA

1

NC

6304

NC

6307

NC

6313

NC

6315

NC

6403

NC

6407

NC

6505

NC

6509

NC

6510

PIO

N33

B50

PIO

N33

D31

PIO

N33

B51

PIO

N33

P67

New commercial and experimental products appear ready to allow growth in later RMs (110 - 117 RM)

85

90

95

100

105

110

115

120

DKC63

-50

DKC63

-79

DKC63

-78

DKC64

-10

NB66

02EZ

A1

NC66

07

NC66

08

NC66

09

NC66

11EZ

A1

PIO

N31

G98

PIO

N33

D31

PIO

N33

B51

PIO

N33

P67

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Invention is the Best Way to Predict the Future

(10 cM between marks)

(5 lo

g(pv

alue

) uni

ts b

etw

een

mar

ks)

Yield

Test Weight

Total DamagedPlantsStay Green

RindPenetrometerProtogyny

Plant Height

Moisture

Intactness

GDU pollenshedEar Height

Gray Leaf Spot

Chrom

Markers