Forward breeding

Abstract

A method for plant breeding comprising the steps of: selecting a donor parent possessing a trait of interest; crossing the donor parent to a first hybrid parent; selecting a first generation progeny of the cross; and crossing the first generation progeny with a second hybrid parent to produce a hybrid back cross.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method for plant breeding comprising the steps of:
 a) selecting a donor parent comprising at least a first genetic locus conferring a trait of interest;   b) crossing the donor parent to a first hybrid parent;   c) selecting a first generation progeny resulting from the cross in (b) that comprises the locus; and   d) crossing the first generation progeny with a second hybrid parent to produce a hybrid back cross that comprises the locus.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the first hybrid parent and the second hybrid parent are of the same variety. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein selecting a first generation progeny in step (c) comprises detecting the presence of the locus and/or trait of interest in the first generation progeny. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein selecting a first generation progeny comprises detecting the trait of interest based on a plant phenotype. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the phenotype is resistance to a plant pathogen or plant pest. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein the plant pathogen or plant pest is selected from the group consisting of a viral disease, a bacterial disease, a fungal disease, a nematode disease and an insect pest. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the phenotype is tolerance to a herbicide. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the phenotype is a crop quality trait. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the crop quality trait selected from the group consisting of: oil content, oil composition, protein content, protein composition, carbohydrate metabolism and fiber strength. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein selecting a first generation progeny comprises detecting the presence of the genetic locus. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein detecting the presence of the genetic locus comprises identifying a genetic marker linked to the locus. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein detecting the presence of the genetic locus comprises PCR, Southern hybridization and/or DNA sequencing. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising the steps of:
 e) crossing a first generation progeny of the cross in (d) with a third hybrid parent to produce a first generation progeny of a subsequent generation that comprises the locus.   
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein at least two of the first hybrid parent, second hybrid parent and third hybrid parent are plants of the same variety. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein each of the first hybrid parent, second hybrid parent and third hybrid parent are plants of the same variety. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 13 , further comprising repeating steps d) and e) from at least 1 to 5 additional times using the progeny of a subsequent generation in step e) as the first generation progeny in step d) and using as the second hybrid parent and third hybrid parent additional hybrid plants of the same variety as the second hybrid parent and third hybrid parent, thereby producing a progeny backcrossed plant that comprises the locus. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein steps d) and e) are repeated a sufficient number of generations to produce a progeny backcrossed plant that comprises the locus but otherwise comprises alleles consisting essentially of those found in the variety from which the additional hybrid plants were obtained. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 13 , comprising the step of repeatedly selfing the first generation progeny of a subsequent generation a sufficient number of generations to produce an inbred line. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 16 , comprising selecting at each generation the progeny of a subsequent generation based on the presence of the locus and/or trait of interest. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 17 , comprising selecting at each of the generations a first generation progeny of a subsequent generation for crossing based on the presence of the locus and/or trait of interest. 
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 20 , wherein selecting a first generation progeny comprises detecting the trait of interest based on a plant phenotype. 
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein the phenotype is resistance to a plant pathogen or plant pest. 
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 22 , wherein the plant pathogen or plant pest is selected from the group consisting of: a viral disease, a bacterial disease, a fungal disease, a nematode disease and an insect pest. 
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein the phenotype is tolerance to a herbicide. 
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein the phenotype is a crop quality trait. 
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 25 , wherein the crop quality trait selected from the group consisting of: oil content, oil composition, protein content, protein composition, carbohydrate metabolism and fiber strength. 
     
     
         27 . The method of  claim 20 , wherein selecting a first generation progeny comprises detecting the presence of the genetic locus. 
     
     
         28 . The method of  claim 27 , wherein detecting the presence of the genetic locus comprises identifying a genetic marker linked to the locus. 
     
     
         29 . The method of  claim 27 , wherein detecting the presence of the genetic locus comprises PCR, Southern Hybridization and/or DNA sequencing.