Principles of Plant Breeding

Note 1: This course cannot be combined in an individual program with the on-campus course PBR-23306 Plant Breeding (much of the content is shared between these courses).
Note 2: The period mentioned below is the period in which this course starts. For the exact academic weeks see the course planning on www.wur.eu/schedule.
Note 3: This course is offered online and it takes about 20 hours to complete the weekly task. There are assignments with deadlines and non-synchronous interaction with teachers and fellow students. An online exam is offered at the end of the course.
Note 4: This is an online course, but it can also be followed by on-campus students after consultation with the course coordinator.

• Explain basic concepts and principles in plant breeding

• Evaluate plant breeding selection programmes in terms of their advantages and limitations

• Choose the appropriate selection method to breed for (certain combinations of) traits

• Select the appropriate breeding strategy, taking into account the mode of reproduction of the crop of interest

• Indicate the key features, advantages and challenges in the production of F1 hybrid cultivars

• Analyse observations to separate genetic and non-genetic components of variation, including estimation of heritability

• Discuss the consequences of chimerism in mutants, and the implications of ploidy differences in breeding material

• ? (100%) Closed-book exam. Mixture of open questions and some multiple choice questions

Basic Mendelian genetics is assumed background knowledge.

The exam takes place using Remote Proctoring, which is different than digital examinations on-campus. Students unfamiliar with this system should carefully test it beforehand by following all directions given via the Student Support "screen steps" instructions (https://wur-studentsupport.screenstepslive.com/m/106158/c/365541).

• Recommended: G. Acquaah. Principles of Plant Genetics and Breeding, 2nd or 3rd Edition. Wiley-Blackwell (ISBN: 9781119626329)