Breeding Methodologies

Hybrid breeding is the foundation of seed production in many major crops such as rice, maize, rapeseed and rye as well as most vegetables. Efforts to establish hybrid breeding systems in wheat, barley and forage crops are ongoing. In grasslands, for example, many of the most important forage grass and legume species are characterized by an effective self-incompatibility system that promotes cross pollination. Such allogamous species are usually improved as populations and synthetic varieties, only partially exploiting the genetically available heterosis. The implementation of practical and economic hybrid seed production systems is still a major bottleneck in those species. Therefore, we are developing innovative research approaches to identify, characterize and utilize biological mechanisms in forage grasses to control pollination, which can – among a broad range of other applications – be exploited in hybrid breeding schemes.

Among our main interest regarding these genetic mechanisms, we are focusing on:

• self-incompatibility, which prevents self-pollination in many plant species
• self-compatibility, which is a naturally occurring breakdown of self-incompatibility
• cytoplasmic male sterility (CMS)
• double haploid production, as a tool to produce parental lines

Genomic selection, a powerful tool in plant breeding, has revolutionized the way plant breeders select and develop improved crop varieties. It is a method that utilizes genomic information to predict the breeding value of plants, allowing breeders to make informed decisions early in the breeding process. This accelerates the breeding process, reducing the time required to develop new varieties. With our work, we contribute to the implementation of more effective genomic selection strategies in wheat, apple and forage crop breeding programs.