Plant Breeding 450/550

Term Project Assignment

The term project will provide students with an opportunity to apply the principles discussed in class to a crop and problem of special interest. Each student will

1. choose a crop of interest
2. choose a particular problem (e.g. resistance to a disease, improvement in an aspect of quality), and
3. design a hypothetical breeding program to solve the problem.

Your topic must be approved by the instructor, who will gladly offer suggestions and recommend sources of information. You may submit your topic to the instructor for approval at any time, but no later than on the day of the second exam.

The paper should be 9-15 pages long, typed, and double-spaced. A minimum of 4 original research publications must be cited. Papers are due on Thursday during the last week of classes. Five points will be deducted for each day that a paper is late.

Papers will be judged primarily on whether the program you design is logical and clearly presented. Crops and problems for which there is no literature on pollination methods and inheritance should be avoided. Graduate students should choose topics outside of their thesis research area; a closely related topic would be fine. Please start to review the literature as soon as possible, as many students consider choosing an appropriate crop and problem the most difficult part of the assignment. If you have trouble deciding on a topic, prepare a list of 2-5 topics that you consider interesting and discuss them with your instructor. Likewise, you may find it necessary to make some assumptions in designing your hypothetical breeding program. Your instructor will gladly assist you in this as well.

Detailed instructions will be distributed in class.