Advanced Plant Breeding

The course provides in-depth elements of plant breeding, referring to the use of techniques of biometrics, molecular biology, genomics, functional genomics and genetic engineering. The first part of the course provides a review of the concepts of Mendelian genetics aimed to understand the application of molecular markers in mapping studies of genomes and identification and cloning of the chromosomal regions responsible for simple and quantitative characters (QTL). The concept of marker-assisted selection (MAS) is developed accordingly. In parallel the theme of molecular markers is addressed with their applications to both mapping and fingerprinting of genomes. The second part will deal with the theme of sequencing and analysis of genomes, starting from traditional technologies up to the next-generation ones. The third part of the course is devoted to the study of gene expression, starting with the simplest cases up to large-scale applications, which are addressed by the most recent technologies and microarray chip (like Affymetrix , Illumina, RNA-seq etc.). Bioinformatics methods of data analysis and access to major genetics databases with simulations in the classroom are also addressed. The fourth part of the course will outline the production and use of transgenic plants for applications aimed at the improvement of agronomic and technological traits. Important and integral elements of the course consist of exercises in the classroom and in the laboratory that allow the student to practice some advanced operational concepts for the better understanding of the concepts exposed in the lectures.