POLLEN POLYMIX PLANT BREEDING METHOD UTILIZING MOLECULAR PEDIGREE ANALYSIS

摘要

The present invention is directed to a plant breeding and testing method that utilizes a pollen mixture derived from many male parents in conjunction with field trials and molecular pedigree analysis to evaluate breeding values and make progeny selections for the next generation of breeding. More specifically the plant breeding method involves mixing pollen obtained from a breeding group composed of a plurality of parental plant to obtain a pollen polymix. The polymix is used to pollinate female reproductive structures from parental plants in the breeding group to obtain a plurality of progeny seed lots. Each progeny seed lot has seeds obtained from a different cross between the pollen polymix and a different parental plant. Resultant progeny plants from each seed lot are evaluated using objective criteria to obtain a phenotype score. The pedigree of a least some of the progeny plants, usually those with a desirable phenotype score, is determined using molecular parental analysis. Lastly, the pedigree and phenotype score are used to identify elite plants for use in a next generation of plant breeding.