NCCC_old167: Corn Breeding Research
(Multistate Research Coordinating Committee and Information Exchange Group)
Status: Inactive/Terminating
NCCC_old167: Corn Breeding Research
Duration: 10/01/2011 to 09/30/2016
Administrative Advisor(s):
NIFA Reps:
Non-Technical Summary
Statement of Issues and Justification
The need, as indicated by stakeholders: Plant breeding is a critical, practical integration of disciplines including genetics, statistics, plant pathology, entomology, and biochemistry to develop cultivars useful to humans. The U.S. public corn breeding sector provides novel germplasm, technologies, and trained students that facilitate cultivar development and utilization by stakeholders including agriculture-based corporations, traditional and organic farmers, and consumers. This committee fulfills a needed organizational role by providing a synergistic environment to facilitate multi-location testing and exchange of information among and between public and private scientists, and a conduit for dissemination of germplasm developed by public breeders.
The importance of the work, and the consequences if it is not done: Student training will suffer in the absence of this committee. To meet the challenge of maintaining food supply and crop stability in the near future industry will need a minimum of 45 to 110 highly educated, technically trained plant breeders and physiologists entering the workforce yearly (Bliss 2006). Yet the number of students entering the profession has declined markedly over the last 20 years due to complex social and economic factors (Guner and Wehner 2003; Wolinsky 2010). This committee will facilitate student training and recruitment by providing a unified voice to describe the need for student funding, and by providing a scientific forum that will assist in educating students in the current multi-disciplinary environment. Furthermore, dissemination and application of germplasm and information will be hindered if this committee is not renewed. A yearly conference, archival of committee documents, and integrated station reports all provide mechanisms to effectively and promptly transmit information that is useful to stakeholders.
The technical feasibility of the research: The has a rich history of conducting a yearly exciting and effective scientific conference, conducting coordinated performance trials, and exchanging technical information related to corn breeding. The history of the committee, and the organized procedures that are in place (such as coordinated e-mail lists and protocols for meeting organization), ensure that this committee will continue to perform efficiently and effectively.
The advantages of doing the work as a multi-state effort: The synergy generated by operating as a multi-state committee is the strength of this committee. This committee ensures yearly interaction of public plant breeders which facilitates coordination of research and exchange of information. In the absence of this committee, the relatively small number of remaining public corn breeders would likely not have the opportunity to systematically interact in the absence of this committee, and almost certainly would also not interact with the private breeders who attend this yearly meeting. Similarly, coordination of multi-location testing allows for assessment of genotype x environment interactions this committee fills an important role by facilitating this coordination.
The likely impacts from successfully completing the work: Continued function of this committee will contribute to training of the needed pool of plant breeders, will facilitate variety development and release, and will provide a unified voice for the public plant breeding community allowing effective acquisition of resources. Therefore, the impacts will be trained students, development and dissemination of germplasm and methods, and coordination of efforts to attract needed funds to conduct important corn breeding research.
Objectives
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Release inbred lines and improved populations and support decisions by conducting hybrid trials for three maturity zones (100-300, 400-600, and 700-800 relative maturity ratings) to evaluate new inbred lines in hybrids on a regional maturity basis.
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Develop standardized protocols for phenotypic analysis; provide advice and data to public databases to facilitate phenotypic and genotypic data acquisition, accessibility, and analysis; and assess approaches to integrate genomic information in corn breeding.
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Promote and raise awareness of plant breeding through the active interaction of NCR representatives with the Plant Breeding Coordinating Committee (SCC 80), plant breeding institutes, and international consortiums and disseminate information from annual meetings worldwide.
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Interact with other Multistate Research Committees (e.g., NCR-25, NEC- 29) and other important groups (Maize Genetics) to stay abreast of the latest research of disciplines that are important in corn breeding.
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Train the next generation of corn breeders.
Procedures and Activities
The coordinating committee meets once per year at a scientific conference specifically for the committee and guests, and researchers communicate throughout the year with respect to specific projects. Coordination centers on germplasm testing and development, distribution of information, advancement of the discipline of plant breeding, and training the next generation of students.
Germplasm Testing and Development: The uniform testing committees of NCC-167 coordinate the testcross and evaluation of elite, unreleased germplasm at several locations in the U.S and/or Canada. The data gathered from these trials are invaluable in making release decisions on germplasm and allows collection across a broader representation of environments than is possible with any single breeding program. These cooperative trials also foster communication and the exchange of germplasm. Chairs of individual maturity subcommittees annually report evaluation of more than 100 genotypes in multiple locations across the U. S. This indicates the commitment of this group to characterize GxE interactions for better prediction of performance. Furthermore, combined multi-state trials will assist in the identifications of testers that can be used for experimental and breeding purposes.
A significant effort in many public programs is prebreeding and characterization of novel germplasm. These activities benefit worldwide corn yields and stability by maintaining and facilitating genetic diversity in commercial breeding pools. The coordinating committee will coordinate these efforts by providing a forum to discuss on-going research and an early access point to share results.
Distribution of Information and Standardization of Information Structures: A primary feature of the yearly NCCC-167 committee is a yearly scientific conference. This conference has a majority of time devoted to scientific presentations and discussion of ideas. Unlike larger conferences, it is a forum for presentation of early results and emerging concepts that fosters rapid dissemination of new ideas and critical discussion of approaches. Ultimately, results presented at these meetings are disseminated by peer-reviewed journal articles. A written report summarizing progress, relevant publications, and germplasm releases is provided by each Agricultural Experiment Station and is made available at the committee website to all members and the public. Germplasm releases are frequently also disseminated by publication in the Journal of Plant Registrations. Activities coordinated through the committee are also discussed throughout the year by groups of participants. The yearly meeting is a critical feature of these coordination activities. Due to the extensive participation in this committee by national and international researchers, the impact of the committee is realized worldwide through contribution of germplasm and publication of fundamental, high-impact research. An example of the impact of previous work by this group was development of inbred line B73, the reference maize genotype for sequencing, and a line with a long history of commercial importance directly in hybrid production and in the pedigree of many current hybrids.
Advances in high density genotyping and re-sequencing of diverse genotypes provides the opportunity for meta-analysis of collections of data sets to develop breeding models for marker-based and genomic selection, and to identify functional qualitative trait nucleotides. An important feature that will allow these types of analysis to occur is standardization of nomenclature, precise documentation of experimental protocols and environmental conditions, and mechanisms to make phenotypic data sets available. A goal of this funding period will be to facilitate this level of standardization and coordination through the work of committee members, and through discussions and advocacy with appropriate groups and data repositories.
Advancement of the Discipline of Plant Breeding and Training the Next Generation of Plant Breeders: Recruiting and training students in plant breeding and related disciplines is a goal of public plant breeders, this coordinating committee provides a community for students interested in corn breeding, providing opportunities for significant interactions with experts in their field, and relationship-building with peers that will last their whole career. The committee facilitates recruitment by providing a forum and connections among project leaders to identify training programs for promising undergraduates. Students trained by NCCC-167 participants will be leaders in industry, the public sector, and international breeding teams. Furthermore, federal agencies have moved toward a multi-investigator model for many funding programs. This coordinating committee will facilitate development of relationships and research interactions that will lead to success in obtaining funding to conduct research and fund student assistantships.
The specific outputs of this committee are:
1) A yearly coordinating meeting and scientific conference.
2) A yearly report of participating Agricultural Experiment Station activities. This report will document outputs including germplasm releases, coordinated test results, and scientific publications.
3) White papers or related on an as-needed basis describing funding needs and scientific trends to be directed to appropriate organizations and agencies to facilitate action. An example of such a document might a prioritization of needs for public corn breeding to be shared with the private sector, legislators, and leaders of funding agencies. Another example might be a list of priorities to support data storage and exchange targeted to appropriate public databases.
Expected Outcomes and Impacts
- 1) Maintaining increased yield and stability of commercial hybrids by contributing to the pool of genetically diverse inbred lines, and by targeting products to regions of the U.S. underserved by industry.
- 2) Availability of appropriate databases that will facilitate storage and exchange of phenotypic information, ultimately facilitating creation of genetic models that will facilitate marker-based and genomic selection.
- 3) Trained plant breeding students sufficient to meet the needs of the private and public sector. These plant breeders will contribute to long-term U.S. food security by developing commercial products for all market sectors including conventional and organic growers.
Projected Participation
View Appendix E: ParticipationEducational Plan
The primary mode of outreach is via refereed and other scientific publications of participants, and by public release of germplasm. Reports of the committee are publicly available on our website.
This committee has regular meetings in combination with other committees as appropriate. In the past, these have included NEC-29, NCR-25, and NCR204.
Organization/Governance
The group is led by the Corn Breeding Executive Committee which is governed according to the following bylaws:
"The Corn Breeding Executive Committee (CBEC) will include six members elected by the broadest feasible vote of the Corn Breeding Community. The CBEC membership shall include four members from the public sector (university, government, or NGO), and two from the private sector who can contribute to the mission of the Corn Breeding Community.
Members will be elected for three-year terms. Two members will rotate off each year and will be eligible for nomination for up to two succeeding years. Elections will take place in February of each year for any available seats, including the two that open each year and any that become available for other reasons. Nominations will be solicited from the entire Corn Breeding Community prior to the annual meeting, and all willing candidates will be present on the ballot. If there are more nominees than twice the number of open slots, a runoff ballot of twice the number of open slots will be conducted, for those nominees who receive the highest number of votes in the initial ballot. Elected candidates will be those with the most votes.
The Chair of the CBEC will be elected by a vote of the members of the CBEC, and Robert Rules of Order will be followed. Amending bylaws statement to be added by first CBEC. Chair breaks ties within BCEC.
The CBEC has the option to appoint other members (including ex-officio) to the CBEC so that an appropriate representation of the Corn Breeding Community will be obtained. These appointed positions will be filled via an election within the CBEC, and will be for a maximum of two years.
Each year, the CBEC will report its activities to the Corn Breeding Community via its web site and, if needed, by a short presentation at the Annual Corn Breeding meeting.
The CBEC organizes and convenes the annual NCCC167 meeting. This meeting will normally be in conjunction with the Maize Genetics Conference or the American Seed Trade Association meetings to maximize opportunities for participation by the maize genetics and breeding community.
Literature Cited
None