Plant Genome Editing and Selection

In this course, we demonstrate how advanced technologies and strategies can be used for future modification of important cultured plants that are disease-free and meet the demands for environmentally sustainable production of food, feed, industrial raw material and ornamentals of high quality. Novel methods are presented by which plants can be modified and how the best lines can be selected. The students will see that molecular plant breeding is demand-driven, and that high creativity may be required in order to fulfill these demands.

Knowledge
- describe the theoretical basis for different genome editing and selection strategies and evaluate their advantages and disadvantages
- describe molecular mechanisms behind the crop-related characters, e.g. disease resistance and quality traits
- characterize a number of key genes with major historic relevance in plant breeding (e.g. mlo and dwarf-8)
- mention major databases and literature within the area

Skills
- demonstrate laboratory experience in plant genome editing and selection
- demonstrate laboratory experience in bioinformatics

Competencies
- construct programs for crop improvement using genome editing and selection
- apply knowledge on molecular mechanisms behind selected plant characters to design demanded crop phenotypes.