-Magdalen Lindeberg

Plant breeding is among humankind’s oldest and most important endeavors.  A rapidly expanding toolbox based on genetic information, high-throughput phenotyping, and new statistical approaches is revolutionizing the speed and precision with which beneficial traits can be introduced into economically significant crops. The Tucson Plant Breeding Institute (TPBI) was started in 2013 to address the need for state-of-the-art training for the next generation of plant breeders. Taught by Mike Gore (Plant Breeding and Genetics Section), Lucia Gutierrez (University of Wisconsin), and Bruce Walsh (University of Arizona), TCBI is held every January at the University of Arizona, and has been taught in Uganda, Brazil, and South Korea. In 2018 it will also be taught in Uruguay.   TCBI was offered in Ithaca for the first time October 9 – 13.

The weeklong course was composed of two modules – “Introduction to Plant Quantitative Genetics” and “Advanced Statistical Plant Breeding”, totaling 35 hours of instruction. Gore commented that while the concepts discussed at TPBI are predominantly focused on the field of plant breeding, the tools discussed are useful to anyone using modern quantitative genetics approaches to understand biological systems.  Chase Crowell, a graduate student in the Plant Pathology and Plant-Microbe Biology Section who attended both modules, appreciated the opportunity to reinforce concepts in plant breeding and consider the broad range of tools and analytical strategies within a coherent framework.

SIPS Director Chris Smart commented, “The School of Integrative Plant Science (SIPS) is a world leader in developing and applying cutting edge strategies in plant breeding. We want to ensure that our students have every opportunity to benefit from the expertise of our faculty and their colleagues.” TPBI in Ithaca was sponsored by SIPS, which provided financial support for transportation and housing of the visiting instructors.