Plant breeding

Plant breeding is the purposeful manipulation of plant species in order to create

desired genotypes and phenotypes for specific purposes.

This manipulation involves either controlled pollination, genetic engineering, or

both, followed by artificial selection of progeny.

Plant breeding often, but not always, leads to plant domestication.

Plant breeding has been practiced for thousands of years, since near the beginning
of human civilization.

It is now practiced worldwide by government institutions and commercial

enterprises.

International development agencies believe that breeding new crops is important for
ensuring food security and developing practices through the development of crops
suitable for their environment.

Classical plant breeding uses deliberate interbreeding (crossing) of closely or

distantly related individuals to produce new crop varieties or lines with desirable
properties.

Plants are crossbred to introduce traits/genes from one variety or line into a new
genetic background.

For example, a mildew-resistant pea may be crossed with a high-yielding but

susceptible pea, the goal of the cross being to introduce mildew resistance without
losing the high-yield characteristics.

Progeny from the cross would then be crossed with the high-yielding parent to
ensure that the progeny were most like the high-yielding parent, (backcrossing).

The progeny from that cross would then be tested for yield and mildew resistance
and high-yielding resistant plants would be further developed.

Plants may also be crossed with themselves to produce inbred varieties for
breeding.

Note: The above text is excerpted from the Wikipedia article "Plant breeding",
which has been released under the GNU Free Documentation License.
For more information, see the following related content on ScienceDaily:
Related Stories
Plant Breeding Is Being Transformed by Advances in Genomics and Computing
Feb. 19, 2011 Improved DNA sequencing and computing technologies allow us to
track plant genetic variation at a level unimaginable five years ago. This is
radically improving plant breeding and making the process ... read more

Small Molecules to Help Make SMARTER Cereals

Aug. 8, 2016 Researchers are rethinking plant breeding strategies to improve the
development of new high-yielding, stress-tolerant cereal varieties. They say small
gene-regulating molecules found in plant cells ... read more

A 'Fitbit' for Plants?

June 22, 2016 Knowing what physical traits a plant has is called phenotyping.
Because it is such a labor intensive process, scientists are working to develop
technology that makes phenotyping much easier. The tool ... read more
Genomics Study Points to Origins of Pollen Allergens
Aug. 4, 2016 A new study has provided the first broad picture of the evolution
and possible functions in the plant of pollen ... read more

Meloidogyne Mali: A New Invasive Plant Parasitic Nematode in Europe

Dec. 30, 2013 A recent study shows that a root-knot nematode species previously
considered indigenous to Europe was actually introduced from Asia, and that its
host range is wider than previously ... read more