Genomic Selection for Crop Improvement

Heffner, E.L. and Sorrells, M.E. and Jannink, J.L. (2009) Genomic Selection for Crop Improvement. Crop Science, 49 (1). pp. 1-12.

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Abstract

Despite important strides in marker technologies, the use of marker-assisted selection has stagnated for the improvement of quantitative traits. Biparental mating designs for the detection of loci affecting these traits (quantitative trait loci [QTL]) impede their application, and the statistical methods used are ill-suited to the traits' polygenic nature. Genomic selection (GS) has been proposed to address these deficiencies. Genomic selection predicts the breeding values of lines in a population by analyzing their phenotypes and high-density marker scores. A key to the success of GS is that it incorporates all marker information in the prediction model, thereby avoiding biased marker effect estimates and capturing more of the variation due to small-effect QTL. In simulations, the correlation between true breeding value and the genomic estimated breeding value has reached levels of 0.85 even for polygenic low heritability traits. This level of accuracy is sufficient to consider selecting for agronomic performance using marker information alone. Such selection would substantially accelerate the breeding cycle, enhancing gains per unit time. It would dramatically change the role of phenotyping, which would then serve to update prediction models and no longer to select lines. While research to date shows the exceptional promise of GS, work remains to be done to validate it empirically and to incorporate it into breeding schemes.

Item Type: Article
Additional Information: The authors thank Adam Famoso, Michael Gore, and Jesse Munkvold for their insights and critical reviews. Work of Elliot Heff ner was funded by the USDA National Needs Fellowship Grant 2005-38420-15785. Work of Jean-Luc Jannink was partially funded by the USDA-NRI Grant Numbers 2008-55301- 18746 and 2006-55606-16722. Additional funding for this research was provided by Hatch 149419.
Uncontrolled Keywords: Genomic Selection, Crop Improvement
Author Affiliation: Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics, Cornell University, NewYork
Subjects: Crop Improvement
Crop Improvement > Genetics/Genomics
Divisions: Other Crops
Depositing User: Mr Arbind Seth
Date Deposited: 01 Jan 2013 09:12
Last Modified: 01 Jan 2013 09:12
Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.2135/cropsci2008.08.0512
URI: http://eprints.icrisat.ac.in/id/eprint/9122

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