How to Breed in the Genomics Era

Download or read book How to Breed in the Genomics Era written by R.G.C. Antonise and published by . This book was released on 2013 with total page 40 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Plant breeding is the art and science of changing the genetics of plants (genetic constitution) in order to produce superior cultivars harbouring desired characteristics. The continuous development and application of plant biotechnology complemented with genomics resulted in the development of new tools which can be used for creation, analysis, and manipulation of genetic variation leading to improved varieties. These advances paved the way for molecular plant breeding, which is becoming the standard practice in many agricultural and horticultural crop breeding programs. In terms of selection strategies, molecular breeding has experienced two major developmental stages; marker-assisted selection and genomic selection. In this study, phenotypic selection (PS), marker-assisted selection (MAS) and genomic selection (GS) were compared with the aim to obtain insight in selection strategies which can be applied in a breeding program. The selection strategies were compared using simulated data on a bi-parental cross as starting point. Selection was subsequently carried out till F5 generation on the basis of six traits using pedigree based selection and mass selection. Results showed that for the genetically simple trait PS and GS performed better than MS, for high and low heritability settings. For genetically moderate to complex traits MS performed better than PS and GS, for high and low heritability settings.