PBR-30306 Breeding for Resistance and Quality

Course

Credits 6.00

Language of instruction:

English

Assumed knowledge on:

Advanced Statistics (MAT-20306)

Continuation courses:

Design and Management of Breeding Programmes (PBR-30806)

Contents:

This course builds on Plant Breeding (PBR-20806) and is, in combination with Modern Statistics for the Life Sciences (ABG-30806), preparatory for the specialization Plant Breeding and Biodiversity.
In current agriculture, abiotic and biotic stress are the main reasons that yield potential and quality aspects are difficult to realize for many crops. Resistance breeding focuses at the use of genetic resources for improving plant defence against stress factors. Abiotic stress is caused by environmental factors (temperature, water, nutrients, minerals). Breeding for abiotic stress resistance and tolerance for such factors deals with concepts such as adaptability and stability of crop plants, genotype by environment interaction and selection in multi-environment trials. Biotic stress factors include pathogens and pests that infect or feed on crop plants. Breeding for biotic stress resistance deals with defence mechanisms and strategies that protect host plants against pests and pathogens, inheritance of resistance genes, and durable effectiveness of resistance genes.
Quality breeding is mainly directed at improving plant compounds like carbohydrates, proteins, vegetable fats & oils, fibres and secondary metabolites, that are all synthesized in metabolic pathways. Breeding objectives include improved product quality (e.g. taste, shelf life), enhanced production of flavours, fragrances and health supporting components, absence of allergens and other undesirable compounds and improvement of processing characteristics of plant raw materials.

Learning outcomes:

After completion of the course, the student is expected to be able to:
- explain the major characteristics of various resistance and quality traits;
- use this knowledge to develop breeding strategies for improved resistance and quality;
- define appropriate selection strategies for specific target traits;
- apply relevant analytic and statistical screening techniques for trait evaluation.

Activities:

- lectures;
- practical training;
- report writing.

Examination:

The final mark will consist of the following elements: - written exam;
- report writing skills.

Literature:

A syllabus and additional documentation will be available at the start of the course and electronically via an internet site with restricted access.