Molecular breeding

About: Molecular breeding is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 2120 publications have been published within this topic receiving 56908 citations.

Association of phenotypic traits with ploidy and genome size in annual ryegrass.

Abstract: Association of Phenotypic Traits with Ploidy and Genome Size in Annual Ryegrass 1 Esteban F. Rios, Kevin E. Kenworthy and Patricio R. Munoz* 2 Department of Agronomy, University of Florida, 2005 SW 23rd St, Bldg. 350, Gainesville, FL 3 32608, USA. 4 This research was supported by the Plant Molecular Breeding Initiative grant provided through 5 the University of Florida, Institute of Food and Agricultural Science, Plant Breeding Group. We 6 gratefully thank the Forage Breeding and Genomics lab members for their help provided in 7 measuring the phenotypic traits in the field experiment. 8

Conventional Breeding of Cultivated Citrus Varieties

Abstract: Citrus species are among the world’s most widely grown commercial crops with hundreds of cultivated varieties, some of which with exclusively local importance. Citrus breeding programs concern different species and hybrids, also triploids, such in the case of the development of new mandarins and mandarin-like varieties and, on a smaller scale, the development of new grapefruit-like cultivars with unique fruit-quality traits and the creation of seedlessness. An increasing interest is paid also to the qualitative traits of the fruit and to its nutraceutical properties. So in Italy, and more recently in other citrus regions, the development of new pigmented genotypes, among oranges and mandarin hybrids is a high priority goal of breeding programs. The interest for lemon breeding is currently poor since there are no active large-scale conventional breeding projects. However, in some countries like Italy, Turkey, Greece, the development of new varieties resistant to mal secco disease is of pivotal importance. In Citrus, conventional breeding is hampered by several reproductive biological features, including apomixis, male and female partial sterility, cross- and self-incompatibility, high level of heterozygosity and long juvenile period. However many breeding programs are currently developed in most of the citrus producing countries in order to face different problems and to release novel varieties to accomplish the consumer request. Both conventional and molecular breeding approaches are used with an increasing importance paid to the use of biotechnological tools for marker-assisted selection and for gene function discovery in order to speed up the obtainment of new varieties. In the present contribution, we will discuss the most important achievements for citrus varieties genetic improvement, describing traditional and innovative approaches, and the main results so far achieved for important traits.

Advances in Genomics-Based Breeding of Barley: Molecular Tools and Genomic Databases

Abstract: Barley is the fourth most important cereal crop and has been domesticated and cultivated for more than 10,000 years. Breeding climate-smart and stress-tolerant cultivars is considered the most suitable way to accelerate barley improvement. However, the conventional breeding framework needs to be changed to facilitate genomics-based breeding of barley. The continuous progress in genomics has opened up new avenues and tools that are promising for making barley breeding more precise and efficient. For instance, reference genome assemblies in combination with germplasm sequencing to delineate breeding have led to the development of more efficient barley cultivars. Genetic analysis, such as QTL mapping and GWAS studies using sequencing approaches, have led to the identification of molecular markers, genomic regions and novel genes associated with the agronomic traits of barley. Furthermore, SNP marker technologies and haplotype-based GWAS have become the most applied methods for supporting molecular breeding in barley. The genetic information is also used for high-efficiency gene editing by means of CRISPR-Cas9 technology, the best example of which is the cv. Golden Promise. In this review, we summarize the genomic databases that have been developed for barley and explain how the genetic resources of the reference genome, the available state-of-the-art bioinformatics tools, and the most recent assembly of a barley pan-genome will boost the genomics-based breeding for barley improvement.