SinghSoybean Group@ISU

AGRON 521 – Principles of Cultivar Development – Each Spring

(3-0) Cr. 3. Prereq: AGRON 421; STAT 401

Office: 1501 Agronomy hall

Learning outcomes:

Students will be able to set plant breeding objectives, acquire germplasm and use it to develop cultivars, create and utilize genetic variability, and make selections to develop cultivars.
Students will be able to make decisions on the types of populations to develop, breeding schemes to implement, tools and techniques to utilize to enhance genetic gain in allocated resources.

Learning objectives:

Core Categories – Core Concepts – Learning Objectives

1. Basic concepts in cultivar development

Define mating systems
Recognize similarities and dissimilarities between populations and cultivars
Identify and infer types of cultivars
Review and explain crossing symbols, pedigree writing and selection history
Define breeding process and breeding objectives in major crops
Describe the principles of setting breeding objectives
Application of knowledge of breeding objectives in cultivar development

2. Germplasm usage in cultivar development

Summarize natural and artificial selection
Illustrate plant breeding pipeline
Describe sources of parental material and principles in assembling genetic variation
Compare various mechanisms of variety protection
Revise material transfer agreements and germplasm sharing, and associated legal issues

3. Review of basic population and quantitative genetics principles

Understand the different types of populations in plant breeding
Apply different types of crossing schemes for cultivar development
Learn to distinguish qualitative versus quantitative traits and apply in cultivar development pipeline
Understand the concepts of variability, phenotype, genotype, and genotype x environment (G x E) interactions
Identification of high yielding stable varieties
Understand the concept of heritability and practice selection
Learn selection theory and deploy for increased response to selection (breeder’s equation)
Recognize multiple trait selection scenarios and deploy for different scenarios
Understand mating designs, combining ability and its calculations
Explain heterosis
Choose program size, generation to select and population sizes

4. Steps in cultivar development and breeding methods

Operate field testing program with choice of statistical design and analysis for breeding trials
Deploy principles of cultivar development to create new varieties
Describe main steps in development of pureline, clonal, synthetic, hybrid, multi-line and blend cultivars
Understand and deploy strategies for population improvement
Select appropriate tools (phenomic, genomic, infrastructural) for achieving program objectives
Describe main breeding and selection methods in cultivar development (generation advancement, selections, pre-commercial testing, seed production and certification, distribution)
Evaluate cultivar development pipelines for different types of cultivars in major and minor crops

5. Building and operating a cultivar development program

Learn Resource management
Select appropriate tools for testing and selection of genetic material
Evaluate success and deficiencies (and remedy) in the program
Understand and utilize multi-disciplinary approaches to achieve program objectives

Course format:

Lectures (with classroom discussion), group activities, research projects.

Topics

Basic Concepts

Major crops and breeding objectives, setting breeding objectives, reproductive systems, populations and cultivars, types of cultivars, crossing symbols, pedigree writing, selection history, generation writing conventions.

Genetic variation and germplasm usage

Natural vs Artificial selection, overview of plant breeding process, cultivar develop phases, centers of diversity, gene bank, types of variability, germplasm resources, wide hybridization, creating breeding populations, MTA, parental selection.

Primer on population and quantitative genetics

Types of populations, population sizes, qualitative and quantitative traits, gene action, concept of phenotype genotype, environment, heritability, selection theory, genetic gain, variability in response to selection, multiple trait selection, Genotype x Environment interaction; combining ability, heterosis.

Basic steps in cultivar development

Steps in the development of cultivars: clonal, purelines, inbreds, synthetics, hybrids, blends.

Breeding methods and their modifications

Bulk method, Pedigree method, Single Seed Descent, Doubled Haploid, Backcrossing, Intra-population and inter-population recurrent selection.

Use of tools in plant breeding

Doubled haploid, winter nurseries, marker assisted selection, genomic prediction and selection, high throughput phenotyping and phenomics assisted breeding.

Methods in cultivar development

Clonal; Self-pollinated; Cross-pollinated crops.

Practical examples of cultivar development

Set objectives, use data to make selections, use appropriate tools, generation advancement and selections; adaptation/pre-commercial testing; seed multiplication and distribution

AGRON 522 – Field Methods in Plant Breeding – Alternate Summer Semester

Cr. 2. Prereq: AGRON 521, or instructor’s permission

Office: 1501 Agronomy hall

Course details: Weekly three hour sessions with a mix of site visits and informal lectures. Visits and interactions include:

agricultural equipment manufacturers
precision agriculture manufacturers
hand’s on activities and lecture related to plant transformation
hand’s on activities and lecture related to molecular markers and doubled haploid
visits to major seed companies
participation in breeding activities of maize, soybean, forages, sorghum and clonal crops
germplasm bank
seed production and certification

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