NCCC_OLD204: The Interface of Molecular and Quantitative Genetics in Plant and Animal Breeding
(Multistate Research Coordinating Committee and Information Exchange Group)
Status: Inactive/Terminating
NCCC_OLD204: The Interface of Molecular and Quantitative Genetics in Plant and Animal Breeding
Duration: 10/01/2002 to 09/30/2007
Administrative Advisor(s):
NIFA Reps:
Non-Technical Summary
Statement of Issues and Justification
Population and quantitative genetics have had remarkable success in both plant and animal breeding. Those advancements, however, were limited by the relatively simplistic assumptions of the models used for inheritance of quantitative traits and the tools available for estimating genetic worth. With the advent of molecular genetics, those limitations no longer need apply. We now have the means to uncover the true modes of inheritance of quantitative traits by unlocking the mysteries of the genetic code. Although structural genomics has revealed the DNA sequence of the human genome, less than 1% of the human genetic code can be deciphered into functional genes. The DNA sequence is like the Egyptian hieroglyphics on the Rosetta stone. We have the cipher but we do not yet know what it all means. Functional genomics is the painstaking process of extracting meaning from the code. Functional genomics will reveal gene function and regulation, knowledge that we can apply in advanced breeding programs of agriculturally important species. The genomics revolution also has profound importance for management of natural populations to determine breeding structures, rate of inbreeding, and effective population size.
Several obstacles, however, remain before such a goal can be realized. Those are detailed in the next section.
Issues that must be addressed for implementation of genomics in plant and animal breeding programs include:
1. What are the optimum strategies to map genes for quantitative traits, so-called quantitative trait loci or QTL, in outbred populations, with and without pedigrees, such as those used in tree breeding?
2. What is the optimum method of incorporating such genomic information into breeding programs to enhance rates of genetic improvement?
3. How much additional improvement can a breeder expect to make by including such information in breeding programs and at what cost?
4. What types of traits benefit most by including molecular information in selection programs?
5. How can genomic information from completely sequenced model organisms (fruit fly, human, mouse, zebrafish, and arabadopsis) be used to infer gene structure, regulation and function in agriculturally or ecologically important species, whose genomes may never be completely sequenced?
6. How can genomic information be incorporated into quantitative genetic models to better reflect the underlying biology?
The issues and questions detailed above are best addressed by scientists working in diverse fields of genetics, from gene mapping to bioinformatics, and with a diverse range of species, both plant and animal.
On a national basis, the NRSP8 National Animal Genome Project and the Plant and Animal Genome projects of the USDA/NRI and NSF have provided information on sequence data and structural genomics of domesticated plants and animals. The USDA recently reduced funding for the Plant and Animal Genome program areas of the USDA/NRI. Due to this and other budget constraints, animal genome projects rely on information provided by the human genome project that was completed jointly by the NIH and the private sector. Like the animal genome projects, plant genome projects are depending on a few well-funded efforts, primarily the arabadopsis and rice genome projects, to provide the basis for deciphering other plant genomes.
Concentrating resources on the complete genetic characterization of a few representative genomes results in a wealth of information that saves us the trouble of completely sequencing every species on earth.
See attachment for additional information.
Objectives
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Develop and compare statistical methodology to map genes.
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Examine the efficiency of incorporating molecular tools in breeding programs through theoretical modeling, computer simulations, and biological testing in actual breeding populations.
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Use molecular genetics to test hypotheses generated from the fundamental theories of population, quantitative genetics, and molecular evolutionary genetics, such as: epigenetic influences; prevalence of non-additive gene action, including genetic mechanisms resulting in epistasis and dominance; importance of extra nuclear gene action; phylogenetics, molecular clocks, speciation, and conservation genetics
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Procedures and Activities
Expected Outcomes and Impacts
- Improvement and refinement of publicly available mapping and QTL detection software.
- Development of cost-benefit analyses for the use of molecular information in breeding programs; development of breeding designs that incorporate molecular information more effectively than schemes in current use.
- Rejuvenation of population and quantitative genetics theory as molecular information permits direct test of previously untestable hypotheses.
- Interdisciplinary collaborations between molecular, quantitative, and population geneticists.
- Educate molecular geneticists on appropriate experimental designs for QTL mapping and use of QTL mapping software.
- Number of workshops held, programs developed and released, publications related to the proposed objectives, grants awarded to teams composed of committee members, number of invited presentations by committee members to national symposia related to objectives of the program, courses developed that include proposed objectives. Continued objective measures could be documented based on number of times such workshops, papers, or programs are organized, used, or referenced.
Projected Participation
View Appendix E: ParticipationEducational Plan
Objective criteria for assessing the above: Number of workshops held, programs developed and released, publications related to the proposed objectives, grants awarded to teams composed of committee members, number of invited presentations by committee members to national symposia related to objectives of the program, courses devleoped that include proposed objectives. Continued objective measures could be documented based on number of times such workshops, peers, or programs are organized, used or referenced.
Organization/Governance
Standard governance will be used, i.e. Chair and secretary elected from membership for 2 year term. Decision-making will be determined in an annual business meeting. Attendance will be closely monitored. If the representative is unable to attend a meeting the person should still send a representative and station report. If an representative misses a meeting and does not send a representative, the representative will be placed on probation, and a notice will be sent indicating that missing two consecutive meetings will result in the representative being dropped from the project, and will be acted upon in the next years business meeting.
Literature Cited