"Plant breeding through the lens of quantitative genetics"

Venue: New Seminar Room, James Hutton Institute, Invergowrie

Host: Prof Robbie Waugh

Abstract

Modern crops are derived from domestication and improvement through selective breeding over many years. In the last few decades, many breeding programmes experience an accelerated genetic progress due to the use of molecular markers. Breeding targets, such as yield, flowering time, plant architecture and resource use efficiencies, are considered to be complex quantitative traits. The genetic architecture of complex traits can be challenging to disentangle due to their polygenic nature (many genes of small effects) and presence of genetic (epistasis) and other (genetic x environment x management) interactions. Therefore, complex traits are best studied from the perspective of quantitative genetics. This talk will explore multiple research projects that span across the timescale of plant breeding. What are the selection intensities, constraints and impacts during crop domestication? How can pre-breeding programmes introgress exotic genetic diversity from diverse sources in a more effective way? What are the strategies for breeding novel crops and how can these breeding programmes benefit from modern technologies? Knowledge gained from these research projects can contribute toward guiding future plant breeding for better efficiency, sustainability and climate resilience.