Plant Breeding 450/550

Office Hours: For short questions, see me after class or stop by my office (best time 8:20 a.m.). For longer questions, please make an appointment. I do not have formal office hours, but I make myself available when needed. Since class meets four days each week, you have many opportunities to ask for assistance. As a plant breeder, I spend much of my time in the field, in the greenhouse, and in the lab. I may be difficult to find unless you ask for help in advance.

Prerequisite: CSS 430, GEN 311, or equivalent genetics course.

Content: This is introductory course in plant breeding for undergraduate seniors and first year graduate students. The emphasis is on traditional methods of developing improved varieties of self-pollinated, cross-pollinated, and asexually propagated species and the genetic principles on which these methods are based. Examples are drawn from a wide range of crops, including cereal grains, forages, fruits, vegetables, and ornamentals. Special topics include germplasm preservation, disease resistance, and applications of biotechnology to plant improvement.

Grading: Cutoff points will be the standard 90%, 80%, 70%, and 60% for A, B, C, and D, respectively. Approximate weighing will be as follows:

Copies of last year's exams are on reserve in Kerr library under Hort 450. You are welcome to obtain copies of previous exams from other sources. All exams are cumulative but emphasize material covered since the previous exam.

The problem sets require several hours to complete. They must be the student's own work. It is OK to help another student by suggesting that they read a certain page in the text or class notes, but copying answers and submitting the work as one's own will not be tolerated.

There will be a few extra questions on the problem sets and exams for graduate students (who should be registered for 550).

Text: Poehlman, J. M. and D. A. Sleper. 1995. Breeding field crops. 4th edition. Iowa State Univ. Press, Ames, IA.