2008-2009 University of Minnesota Plant Breeding Symposium
Theme/Topic/Title Suggestions
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Native traits breeding/intragenics (industry, university)
Public and private sector plant breeding: helping each other further plant research
Crop research on non-maize and non-soybean crops
Breeding of orphan/under-utilized crops and the applications for plant science
Germplasm: new crops, domesticated crops, crops with genome sequence
Increasing plant biodiversity through plant breeding
Domesticating new crops
Plant breeding for climate change/environmental problems
o Water scarcity, pesticide/herbicide over-use, soil erosion, global warming, etc.
Plant breeding for water conservation (salinity tolerance, drought tolerance, etc.)
What are the possible breeding objectives for the future
o Carbon sequestration, nitrogen/phosphorous/water use efficiency, biofuels
Bridging the gap between basic research and applied results
Future of Agricultural/Genetic research: How will it proceed?
Role of intellectual property in University and private research, development and value capture
Breeding for the international scene
Classical breeding, G x E interaction, use of molecular markers, genomics tools
Marker assisted selection (MAS) and it role in plant breeding
Applications of markers with a focus on major industry perspective
Whole genome sequencing: a plant breeding revolution?
Breeding for the next generation of biotech traits
Dealing with the ethics of GM work and public view
GM trees to reduce greenhouse gases
Genomics as used in pharms (e.g. someone from Merck, etc.)
Plant breeding for human health
Food company perspectives on plant breeding: needs, concerns, etc. and their view of the future
Societal and cultural implications of plant breeding
o Breeding in the context of an increasingly non-agricultural society
Extension: How to convey your research to growers and other end users.
Communicating plant breeding to the public
The apples that are grown at the University of Minnesota (who, how, etc.)
Software/analytical/organizational tolls to handle large data sets
Transposons/retrotransposons
Signal transduction
Review of association mapping
Adaptedness vs. Heterosis in corn
Ethnobotany
Evolutionary developmental biology
Plant pathology
Ecosystem genetics
Plant breeding in a global context
Association Mapping
Use of ancestral knowledge in modern plant breeding
Precision Agriculture
Transgene stacking: methods, practicality, limits, obstacles
Nanotechnology
Molecular breeding on a budget
Synthetic biology
The role of species diversity conservation in breeding programs plus germplasm exchange
Internationalization of plant breeding programs and knowledge gains made locally in emerging locations
Selection and breeding for drought tolerance
Interaction of plant breeders in overall product development from genetics to growers
Where plant breeding is at in other parts of the world
- Reduce the effect on E by increasing G through biodiversity, genetic engineering and alternative thinking
A. These three subjects could easily be presented in one seminar, and could easily be combined with another subject
if presented using a marker assisted selection approach. I'm not sure who would be best to present such a seminar but
I remember Tom Osborne from Seminis presenting something like it here ~2 yrs. ago.
1. Native traits breeding/intragenics (industry, university),
2. Germplasm: new crops, domesticated crops, crops with genome sequence,
3. Increasing plant biodiversity through plant breeding
B. These three also seemed similar and highly relevant to me. They could loosely be associated under breeding for
abiotic stresses which is a pretty daunting task. Specifically, breeding for increased water use efficiency would be an
excellent seminar choice.
1. Plant breeding for climate change/environmental problems: water scarcity, pesticide/ herbicide over-use, soil
erosion, global warming, etc.
2. Plant breeding for water conservation (salinity tolerance, drought tolerance, etc.)
3. What are the possible breeding objectives for the future: carbon sequestration, nitrogen/phosphorous/water use
efficiency, biofuels
C. Review of association mapping
These three topics would be seminars that I would want to go to. A close fourth choice would be plant breeding for
human health. I'd be happy to see a fairly general "large umbrella" type of theme with a diverse set of seminar topics
chosen with a focus on bulk-commodity agronomy and vegetable/horticultural crops.