Plant breeding

Plant breeding changes inherited plant traits through selection, crossing, or other methods to develop varieties with desired characteristics.

Artificial selection: The deliberate choice of organisms with desired traits as parents of later generations. Choosing which plants reproduce is the central route by which breeders shift trait frequencies.
Plant genetics: The study of genes, heredity, and genetic variation in plants. Breeding relies on how plant genes are inherited and expressed across generations.
Green Revolution: A period of rapid agricultural change driven partly by high-yielding crop varieties and new farming inputs. Semidwarf wheat and rice varieties show how breeding reshaped food production.
Genetic engineering: The deliberate alteration of an organism's genetic material using molecular techniques. It can introduce or alter genes directly, unlike conventional crossing and selection.
Plant genetic diversity: The genetic variation found within and among plant populations and species. Repeated use of a narrow set of varieties can affect diversity in cultivated crops.
Hybridization: The crossing of genetically distinct organisms to combine traits in their offspring. Crossing parental plants creates offspring with new combinations of inherited traits.
Quantitative genetics: The study of traits shaped by many genes and environmental influences. Many breeding targets, including yield, depend on numerous genes and conditions.
Drought tolerance: The capacity of an organism to maintain growth or reproduction under limited water. Breeding for drought tolerance targets crop performance under water scarcity.
Genome editing: The targeted alteration of DNA at selected genomic sites using tools such as CRISPR-Cas systems. It can change specific sequences without the repeated crossing used in many breeding programs.
Crop wild relatives: Wild plant species related to domesticated crops that can carry useful inherited traits. They provide genetic sources for traits absent from current crop varieties.

Linked from 72 pages