This document describes speed breeding, a technique that uses controlled growing conditions like extended photoperiod and precise temperature and humidity to rapidly advance plant generations. It allows generating up to 6 wheat generations per year. Case studies show speed breeding reduced time to flowering for several crops by half compared to normal glasshouse conditions. Speed breeding provides opportunities to combine with genomic selection and genome editing to accelerate crop improvement. Challenges include different crop responses and initial investment costs, but it can significantly shorten breeding cycles.

1. CREDIT SEMINAR
SPEED BREEDING AND ITS IMPLICATIONS IN
CROP IMPROVEMENT
RONIKA THAKUR
(A-2018-30-046)
DEPARTMENT OF CROP
IMPROVEMENT
1

2. Contents
 Introduction
 Accelerated Breeding
 Methods of Accelerated Breeding
 Speed Breeding
 Procedure
 Case Studies
 Opportunities & Challenges
 Limitations
 Conclusion
2

3. Will we meet future demand ?
3

4. Traditional wheat breeding pipeline
4

5. Accelerated Breeding
5
 Time consuming line fixation stage
 Reduced breeding cycles

6. 6
Accelerated Breeding
Non molecular
Breeding method
Rapid
Generation
Advanceme
nt
Double
d
Haploid
y
Shuttle
Breedin
g
Speed
Breedi
ng
Molecular Breeding
Method
Marker
Assisted
BC
Genomi
c
Selectio
n

7. 7
Molecular Breeding
Methods

8. 1) Marker Assisted Backcrossing
8
 MAS leads to improved
accuracy, cost or time saving,
fast screening and detection of
homozygosity
 MABC permits highly
efficient detection of target
gene or QTL, along with
combining multiple genes into
single recipient i.e. Marker
assisted pyramiding
BC2
P1 x F1
P1 x P2
BC1
Use ‘background’ markers to select plants that have most
recurrent parent genome and smallest % of donor
genome

9. 2) Genomic Selection
9
 Complementary method to MAS based on making
genomic predictions from a large number of DNA
markers rather than focusing on specific gene
 Accurate selection of complex traits such as yield
and to shorten breeding cycle to increase genetic
gain

10. 10
Non Molecular
Breeding Methods

11. 1) Rapid Generation Advancement
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 Enables quick line fixation by manipulating growth
conditions of plants such as flowering and seed set
 RGA is superior to other breeding methods in speed,
technical simplicity, less resource requirement and low
cost
 This shortened the variety development time and
breeding cycle by about 2 years

12. 2)Traditional Inbreeding & Shuttle Breeding
• One generation per year
• Crossing to F6 takes 7 years
• Two generations per year
• Crossing to F6 takes 3.5 year
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13. Shuttle Breeding
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 Different field locations permits off season
breeding activities
 Improved selection, because field locations
contrasted for a broad range of diseases and
environmental conditions

14. 3)Double Haploid Technology
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15. Haploid Production
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 Bulbosum Technique
 Anther/ Ovule culture
 Chromosome Elimination Technique

16. 16
Chaudhary et al. 2005

17. First DH wheat variety of the country HIM
PRATHAM (DH-114)
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Features of Him Pratham
 Pedigree VWFW 452 ×WW 24
 Semi Dwarf and Awned
 Protein & Gluten: 12.79 & 7.81%
 Facultative winter wheat
 Spreading early growth
 Av. Grain yield: 37-40q/ha
 1000 grain weight: 48gm
 Bold, hard & amber grains
 Sowing time: Oct- Nov
 Recommended fir dry & wet
temperate regions of N-W Himalayas
Developed by: Dr. HK Chaudhary

18. What is Speed Breeding?
A technique which involves extending
photoperiod and controlled growing
conditions such as temperature, soil media,
spacing etc. in glasshouses, enabling rapid
generation advancement by shortening the
breeding cycle.
18

19. 19
Innovation !

20.  Inspired by NASA aiming to grow wheat and food crops in
Space
 Started from University of Queensland, John Innes Centre
and University of Sydney in Australia by Dr. Lee Hickey
and co- workers in wheat and peanut
20

21. Wheat growing on International Space Station
21

22. 22

23. Speed Breeding work for multiple species
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24. 24

25. 25
Temperature controlled glasshouse fitted with supplemental lighting
Low cost growth room lit with LEDsj

26. Harvesting of immature spikes
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27. Cold treatment to promote germination
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28. Speeding up the breeding pipeline
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29. Breeder’s Equation
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30. 1st wheat variety DS Faraday using Speed Breeding; High
protein, milling wheat tolerant to Pre Harvest Sprouting
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31. Speed Breeding Setup
 Light : PAR region (400-700 nm), ambient lighting with
LED
 Photoperiod : 22 hours with 2 hours of darkness
 Temperature : 22˚ C/ 17 ˚C for 22 hours light and 2 hours
dark
 Humidity : Ideally 60-70%
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32. Equipment setup
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Benchtop growth cabinet
 Hardware
 Cabinet structure
 Lighting system
 Temperature and humidity system
 Software installation and setup

33. Procedure
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Preparing seed for sowing
Monitoring key growth stages,
parameters and phenotyping
Seed harvesting
Monitoring energy use

34. Case Studies
34

35. 35

36. 36
Method
Standard genotypes of spring wheat, durum wheat, barley and
Brachypodium distachyon were grown in controlled environmental
conditions with extended photoperiod and compared with glasshouse
with no supplementary light and heating.
Results
Plants grown under SB progressed to anthesis in approximately half
the time those from glass house conditions

37. 37
Fig: a) Loss of function of awn suppressor B1 locus in T. aestivum cv. paragon
b) Reduced height (Rht) dwarfing gene (T. aestivum cv. maringa wild
type, maringa Rht-1, maringa Rht-3 from left to right)

38. 38
Figure:
a) T. aestivum cv. cadenza
at 38 days post sowing
b) Hordeum vulgare cv.
braemar at 41 days post
sowing
c) B. distachyon 36 days
post sowing
d) B. napus cv. Bravo at
50 days post sowing
e) C. arietinum cv.
jimbour at 35 days post
sowing
d e

39. Mean days to anthesis
39

40. 40

41. Results
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 Different SB protocols were introduced for several crop
species viz. Spring wheat, durum wheat, barley, oats,
brassica species, chickpea, pea, linseed, quinoa and model
grass Brachypodium distachyon
 Protocol describes the growing conditions, soil media
composition, lighting, temperature and spacing which
promote growth in different crops

42. 42

43. Results
43
A procedure in which, by combining embryo culture with
management of watering regimes, lighting intensity and
duration, temperature and quantity of potting mixture,
allows the production of upto eight generation of wheat and
nine generations of barley per annum.

44. 44

45.  Speed Breeding Genomic Selection
 Accelerate transgenic
 Opportunity to combine it with CRISPR-Cas9
genome editing technique
 Plant phenotyping for traits: flowering time, plant
height, disease resistance, pod shattering etc.
45

46. Challenges & Limitations
 Different responses of different plant species when exposed
to extended photoperiod
 Early harvest of immature seed interfere with phenotyping
of some seed traits
 Initial investment is high
 No universal protocol due to diverse response of plant
species to photoperiod
46

47. Implications in Crop Improvement
 Six generations per year for spring wheat(Triticum
aestivum), durum wheat (T. durum), barley (Hordeum
vulgare), chickpea (Cicer arietinum )and pea (Pisum
sativum)
 Commercial peanut breeding program
 Multiple disease resistance in barley (Hordeum vulgare)
 Multiple quantitative traits in durum wheat (T. durum)
 Physiological traits viz. awn morphology, flowering time,
plant height etc.
 Mutant transformation i.e. waxy less mutant in barley
47

48. Accelerated Breeding can contribute to hasten the plant
growth to accelerate research and development by
reducing breeding cycles. Moreover, SB as a platform can
combine with several other technologies to get the end
result faster. With the success in SB particularly in wheat
crop, India can also initiate such facilities for quick
development of new varieties.
48
Conclusion

49. 49