Pre-breeding: a link between genetic resources and maize breeding

Abstract

Activities related to genetic resources are characterized by high cost and long term return. Thus the conservation of genetic variability for the future and the efficient utilization of available accessions are two important goals to be attained. However, the low utilization of germplasm banks is not restricted to Brazil but to other developing countries as well. Therefore, pre-breeding is a promising alternative to link genetic resources and breeding programs. Several aspects for maize are discussed such as concept, importance, methods and results. Problems to be investigated and suggestions are also presented.

Characterization and selection of passion fruit (yellow and purple) accessions based on molecular markers and disease reactions for use in breeding programs

“…Costs are generally high for research activities specifically associated with pre-breeding (such as performing agronomic characterizations, determining diversity estimates and identifying preferred crossings), and the time required to obtain results is considerable (Nass 2011;Nass and Paterniani 2000). The use of molecular markers is fundamentally important for enhancing the amount of information generated and for reducing the time required to obtain results (Ferreira and Rangel 2011).…”

Genetic resources: the basis for sustainable and competitive plant breeding

“…However, pre-breeding programs have been shown to be efficient in the use of genetic resources available in AGBs for enlarging the genetic breeding programs of different species (Nass and Paterniani 2000, Nass 2001, 2011, Nass and Sigrist 2012. The second Brazilian report on the use of genetic resources in Brazil emphasizes several examples of the use of Brazil's collection in prebreeding programs (Mariante et al 2009).…”

Evaluation of maize core collection for drought tolerance

“…Only 14% of the maize breeders regularly use genebanks and one of the reasons is the scarce amount of data on the collections. Besides, especially in the case of maize, breeders have established work collections with exceptional performance, discouraging the search for variation in the GBmaize genotypes (Nass and Paterniani 2000). This situation leads to the gap between the areas of genetic resources and breeding, which Evaluation of maize core collection for drought tolerance consequently prevents the genetic diversity preserved in BGmilho from reaching the elite collection of the breeder and the producer.…”

“…Several studies have been conducted to expand the knowledge about maize germplasm (Teixeira et al 2002, Miranda Filho andGorgulho 2003). However, the use of GBmaize is still limited, because according to Nass and Paterniani (2000), the performance of the genotypes used in breeding programs is already much better than of those of the GBmaize, which makes the elite collections far more attractive for breeding.…”