Patent Document ID: 5385835
Application ID: 08252371
Patent Flag: 1

Claim One:
1. A breeding program comprising the steps of: (a) determining the association between restriction fragment length polymorphisms and relative values of a quantitative trait in plants by hybridizing nucleic acid probes specific for the restriction fragment length polymorphisms to genetic material of the plants, determining the relative values of the quantitative traits, and calculating the degree of association between the restriction fragment length polymorphisms and the quantitative trait; (b) selecting the restriction fragment length polymorphisms that have the highest degree of association with said quantitative trait relative to the restriction fragment length polymorphisms that have been tested; (c) developing a mathematical model for partitioning the values of the traits among the selected restriction fragment length polymorphisms into linear or quadratic contrasts, or both; (d) using said contrasts in a multiple regression analysis to determine the predictive value of the selected restriction fragment length polymorphisms for said relative value of the quantitative trait; (e) manipulating said relative values of the quantitative trait in plants by selecting plants for breeding based on the predictive values of the restriction fragment length polymorphisms; and (f) breeding said selected plants.