Plant & Animal Genomes XVII Conference

January 10-14, 2009
Town & Country Convention Center
San Diego, CA

Discovery And Application Of Genome Information In Maize Breeding

John Arbuckle¹ , Michel Ragot²

¹  Syngenta Seeds Inc., Stanton, MN 55018, USA

²  Syngenta Seeds, Saint -Sauyeur, France

The perception, more than twenty five years ago, before the advent of DNA markers, that genome information could impact breeding efficiency and output, has since become a reality in maize as well as in other crops. A wealth of genome information is being discovered and made available at an increasing pace for breeding applications. Current routine deployments of genomics technologies, the sequencing of the maize genome, the availability of discovery and allele mining populations, and the success of statistical genetics methods are enabling the identification and validation of genetic factors (QTLs), genes, and their allelic variants. Although much is still to discover breeding applications of genome information were launched, particularly in the private sector, and have already resulted in a number of commercial realities and successes. Recently, such applications based on simultaneous forward breeding for multiple economically important traits have been shown to significantly increase the rate of genetic gain in maize when compared with conventional breeding. Adoption of genomics-assisted breeding is expected to broaden as successes multiply, tools are further developed, and technologies become more affordable.