Crosser is a simulation model to help generate statistics for the analysis of plant breeding strategies.
When attempting to introduce desirable genes from a pair of donor plants into a ‘preferred variety’ there are several viable breeding schemes available. One is to cross the two donor plants and then cross their offspring with the preferred variety. Another is to cross the preferred variety with one of the donor plants, and then cross the offspring with the remaining donor plant. Relevant questions to decide which is most appropriate include:
- What are the relative chances of success within each breeding scheme?
- Which breeding scheme needs the fewest PCR reactions?
- How much of the genome will come from each donor, on average, at each generation?
- How will linkage drag affect the amount of genetic material from donor parents at loci near the selected traits and/or markers?
With non-trivial breeding schemes the calculations required to answer these questions are too complex to carry out manually. Furthermore, numerous alternative breeding strategies may be plausible and also require evaluation. Crosser simulates the breeding process to approximate statistics associated with the generation of offspring plants, assisting with evaluation, comparison and training.
For more information on how Crosser has been applied see this poster.