New Plant Breeding Technologies and Selection Methods

About

In recent years new developments in plant breeding technologies (NPBT) and selection methods have emerged to provide new solutions for crop development to meet the 2050 challenges in food production under different climate conditions. These are being explored at different stages from research over pre-breeding to commercial crops. Concurrently with these developments, the legal framework governing ‘breeder’s rights’ versus international patents and IPR is also evolving in ways that will have profound impact on future breeding strategies.

The proposed course provides an intensive introduction to the most important new NPBT and their legal implications. The participating institutions will be able to offer the students a more comprehensive, research based course package than they would otherwise have been able to. The course will allow for students to learn from and interact with a wide range of regional experts from both science and industry with up to date knowledge an insights.

There are eight new NPBT that have emerged in recent years that are of particular importance to current students pursuing a career in or related to plant breeding: 1) Oligonucleotide Directed Mutagenesis (ODM); 2) Zinc Finger Nuclease Technology (ZFN); 3) Cisgenesis; 4) Grafting; 5) Agro-infiltration; 6) RNA-dependent DNA methylation (RdDM); 7) Reverse Breeding and 8) Synthetic Genomics. In addition, advanced statistical methods have been developed that allow taking entire genomics information into consideration in breeding by application of association genetics (GWAS) and genomics selection (GS).

During the course, the legal framework for science and industry concerning the application of NPBT will be presented along with theoretical and practical examples of the exploitation of the different techniques.

Target group

Master

Course aim

The course is concerned with plant breeding of field crop plants (eg. grain, grass, tuber), forestry trees, specialty plants with reference to temperate climate growth conditions. The aim is to bridge plant molecular biology and practical plant breeding.

The course will cover:

The principles and application of the eight new breeding technologies
Association genetics (GWAS) and genomic selection (GS)
Breeding strategies in different crops
Breeders right, IPR and GMO regulation

After completing the course, the participants should be able to:

Knowledge:

Understand the principles of new plant breeding technologies (NPBT)

Understand the principles of Association genetics (GWAS) and genomic selection (GS)

Identify required information in order to carry out a breeding project

Describe breeding strategies in different crops

Understand the basic legal framework concerning breeder’s right, IPR and GMO regulation

Competences

Evaluate feasibility of breeding for a given trait

Suggest critical measures to reach the goal

Skills:

Be able to identify required information in order to carry out a mutational breeding project

Be able to evaluate feasibility of breeding for a given trait

Be able to explain the different IPR and GMO regulations relevant to crop improvement

Fee info