KA2a Plant and Animal Breeding Flashcards
What does plant and animal breeding involve ?
Manipulating hereditary to improve new crops and animal stock to support sustainable food production
State some desirable qualities in an organism
High crop yield, resistance to pests/disease, higher nutritional value, resistance to harsh growing conditions, characteristics which improve ease of harvesting
Give examples of characteristics that have been selected for in plants and animals
Resistance to fungal disease in potatoes, high crop yield in wheat, high protein content in soya beans, high milk yield in dairy cattle
What is a cultivar
A plant variety that has been produced in cultivation by selective breeding
State the purpose of plant field trials
Plant field trials are carried out in a range of environments to compare the performance of different cultivars, treatments and GM crops
Describe the importance of selection of treatments in plant field trials
Only one factor should be varied at any one time to ensure fair comparison between cultivars
Describe the importance of number of replicates in plant field trials
Take into account the variability within a sample. Reduces effect of error
Describe the importance of randomisation of treatments in plant field trials
Treatments must be randomised to eliminate bias when measuring their results
Animals and cross-pollinating plants are:
Naturally outbreeding
What is meant by inbreeding
Inbreeding involves the fusion of gametes from close relatives. The most extreme case of inbreeding is in self pollinating plants
why are individuals showing inbreeding less likely to survive to reproduce
the build-up of recessive homozygous alleles can result in reduced vigour, reduced size and yield, poor health, and low disease resistance
Give one benefit of allowing F1 plants to breed to give an F2 generation
Provide a source of new varieties
