Plant Breeding

Plant Breeding unravels genetic information of plants

Unravelling the genetic system of a crop with a good drought tolerance or insect resistance is no simple task. It requires fundamental knowledge of plant genetics but also new strategies and techniques to utilise such knowledge in the breeding of plants.

Plant Breeding has such knowledge. We use this to help large and small breeding companies in advancing their crop breeding. And we also help building new chains for the biobased economy. In such a biobased economy biomass is replacing part of the mineral oil in the production of specific raw materials and plants are used for the production of high-grade chemical products.

Developing prototypes of new crops
Plant Breeding has such knowledge. We use this to help large and small breeding companies in advancing their crop breeding. And we also help building new chains for the biobased economy. In such a biobased economy biomass is replacing part of the mineral oil in the production of specific raw materials and plants are used for the production of high-grade chemical products.

Research focus
Our research focuses on the characterisation, conservation and use of genetic material. This means the following:

• We are building collections of plants, in particular brassicae, barley, potato, tomato, lily and rose.
• We are developing instruments for the detection, quantification and efficient utilisation of genetic variation for research into functional biodiversity and crop breeding.
• We are developing methods to make plant breeding more efficient, such as molecular markers and other improved identification, selection and transformation methods.
• We are developing statistical and computer programmes to enable efficient use of all data we are generating for crop breeding.

Academic and applied 
Plant Breeding is a collaboration between Plant Research International and the Chair Group Plant Breeding.
Plant Breeding is in this way combining academic scientific expertise with more applied, strategic expertise. This mix of various lines of approach enables us to convert fundamental knowledge into knowledge for further use by the industry.

Plant Breeding counts more than 120 employees together with – continuously - a large number of guest workers. In addition, some 50 to 80 students are active. 

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Research examples

Sustainable production    Giving plants sustained resistance via genetic research Making plants suitable for poor or silty soils Climate change Drought-tolerant potatoes on the horizon Making plants suitable for a different climate  Effect of climate change on genetic variation within a species

Health Developing plants with a perfect balance of healthy substances  Making plants with constituents that promote human health

Plant-based raw materials Fungi can replace chemical pretreatment of wood  More efficient production of bioethanol and biogas  Beneficial plant constituents as building blocks for pharmaceuticals

Systems biology Faster breeding by smart use of hundreds of plant data  Molecular signature predicting plant properties