Introduction to Maize Breeding

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

Basic Plant Genetics

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

Basic Plant Genetics Cont

There are two alleles for any gene

Dominant and Recessive

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.

Basic Plant Genetics Cont

Alleles which are heterozygous or homozygous affect the phenotypes and genotypes of plants Phenotype

Visual appearance of the plant Genetic makeup of the plant

Genotype

Mendelian Genetics

Gregor Mendel

Famous geneticist from 1800s His research consisted of selectively breeding garden peas He developed two important laws of genetics

Law of Segregation Law of Independent Assortment

Mendelian Genetics Example

Principles of Breeding Maize

Three Main Principles

Inbreeding Hybridization Heterosis

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

Heterosis (Hybrid Vigor)

Heterosis occurs when two homozygous individuals are cross pollinated.

This causes all loci to become heterozygous The increased heterozygosity causes increased plant vigor Increased yield Better standability Better germination Overall better plant performance

Benefits of Increased Vigor

Maize Breeding Methods

Main Methods of Maize Breeding

Selfing (Inbreeding) Sib Mating Crossing Test Crossing Backcrossing

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

Crossing and Test Crossing

Crossing is useful when trying to create hybrid seed.

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

Test Crossing is useful to test general combining ability of an individual

Ex. Inbred A is x to a tester which has a diverse selection of genotypes

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

Fehr, W. Principles of Cultivar Development. 1993. Volume 1

Photos Courtesy of

www.pioneer.com www.britannica.com www.psu.edu http://imbgl.cropsci.uiuc.edu www.nsf.gov www.scienceclarified.com

Questions

Questions?