Cereal cytogenetics Nick Tinker, Ph.D. Bioinformatics Winson Orr, Ph.D. Molecular Marker Biology Davis W. Cheng, Ph.D. Molecular Genetics, Genomics, Bioinformatics Objective 1. To identify and develop molecular genetic markers linked to strategic traits in barley, oats and soybeans for marker assisted breeding and crop improvement. To discover the genetic basis of these traits. Rationale Molecular markers increase the speed and precision of plant breeding. This can save several years in breeding schemes and reduce the requirement for expensive phenotypic evaluation, especially for disease and quality traits, thereby substantially reducing the cost of cultivar development.
Molecular technology is moderately expensive and can take days to perform.
It is not competitive for traits where rapid visual or analytical assessment is possible. However, it is very competitive in many other situations, particularly since it is non-destructive, as little tissue is required and is not affected by the plant growth environment. Disease resistance genes can be deployed in the early stages of a breeding program without working directly with the pathogen, establishing isolation nurseries, or destructive testing of lines which may have potential for other traits. Breeding for quality or processing traits can proceed with molecular markers without the need to grow out large quantities of seed or product for processing. This permits breeders to construct specific genotypes for advancement of quantitative traits, a process that was very difficult or impossible to do without markers.