Crossing and Selection

Gregor Mendel (1822-1884), a monch at Brünn, was the first to bring light into the principles governing heredity by studying peas. However, the Laws of Heredity he discovered and their practical applications were only understood later when they were rediscovered by Correns, de Vries and von Tschermak at the beginning of the 20th century. This was the starting point of systematic plant breeding. Apart from improved agricultural methods, it was modern plant breeding that brought about the substantial increases in yields.

The most commonly used breeding method today is combination breeding, where the entire genetic material of two parent plants is crossed. In the next generation, the genetic material is rearranged and redistributed along the Laws of Heredity. The targeted traits will be selected among subsequent filial generations.

In the breeding process for a new plant variety, three steps can be distinguished:

Creation of genetic variation by means of crossing Selection of the offspring featuring the desired properties Multiplication and preservation of the new, selected plants

In each step, the plant breeder can choose between different methods. The decoding of plant genomes in the past years offers new opportunities to modern plant breeding for quicker and more precise variety development. The traditional methods are increasingly used in combination with modern biotechnology, e.g. smart breeding or genetic engineering.