Articles
COMBINING FIELD AND LABORATORY METHODS IN TOMATO BREEDING STRATEGIES
Article number
724_1
Pages
23 – 27
Language
English
Abstract
An incredible expansion has occurred in the number and types of methodologies available for manipulating plants.
Depending on the goals of a breeding program, technologies derived from breeding and genetics, pathology, entomology, biochemistry, cell biology, molecular biology, or genomics may be combined to develop the breeding strategy.
The issue in crop improvement becomes how to construct a strategy that is effective and affordable in terms of time and resources for the targeted crop and trait.
A consideration of this question varies considerably with the crop and trait involved.
There is a rich variety of resources available for work on tomatoes.
Tomato is a model for the use of wild relatives for crop improvement, particularly for the transfer of disease resistance genes widely used in cultivars today.
Wild relatives of tomato are well represented in germplasm banks.
Over the past 40 years, tomato has also been a model system for creation of morphological maps, molecular maps, and later, in Quality Trait Loci (QTL) analysis and genomics.
However the best choice of methods depends on other parameters as well.
The difference in blends of technologies needed for two tomato projects illustrates this phenomenon.
For a program dealing with late blight resistance the combination of traditional breeding with laboratory pathology and statistical methods proved successful.
For a program dealing with insect resistance, molecular methods are proving of value, but only after initial success using a combination of breeding and biochemical methods.
Depending on the goals of a breeding program, technologies derived from breeding and genetics, pathology, entomology, biochemistry, cell biology, molecular biology, or genomics may be combined to develop the breeding strategy.
The issue in crop improvement becomes how to construct a strategy that is effective and affordable in terms of time and resources for the targeted crop and trait.
A consideration of this question varies considerably with the crop and trait involved.
There is a rich variety of resources available for work on tomatoes.
Tomato is a model for the use of wild relatives for crop improvement, particularly for the transfer of disease resistance genes widely used in cultivars today.
Wild relatives of tomato are well represented in germplasm banks.
Over the past 40 years, tomato has also been a model system for creation of morphological maps, molecular maps, and later, in Quality Trait Loci (QTL) analysis and genomics.
However the best choice of methods depends on other parameters as well.
The difference in blends of technologies needed for two tomato projects illustrates this phenomenon.
For a program dealing with late blight resistance the combination of traditional breeding with laboratory pathology and statistical methods proved successful.
For a program dealing with insect resistance, molecular methods are proving of value, but only after initial success using a combination of breeding and biochemical methods.
Authors
M.A. Mutschler
Keywords
plant breeding, classical and molecular technologies, insect resistance, tomato
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