What is recurrent selelction in plant breeding ?

                 Recurrent selection is a plant breeding method used to improve quantitative traits in populations over multiple generations. This approach involves repeated cycles of selection, mating, and recombination to accumulate favorable alleles and traits within a breeding population. Recurrent selection can be applied to both self-pollinating and cross-pollinating plant species.

Recurrent selection involves the following steps:

 

Selection of Initial Population: The process begins by selecting a diverse population with the desired traits of interest. This population serves as the starting point for the recurrent selection program.

 

Selection: Individual plants or families are selected based on their performance for the target traits. Selection can be based on phenotypic performance, genotypic values estimated from molecular markers, or a combination of both.

 

Mating: Selected individuals are intercrossed to create new populations for the next cycle of selection. Controlled mating designs, such as full-sib or half-sib matings, may be used to maintain genetic diversity while concentrating favorable alleles.

 

Recombination: In each generation, recombination occurs during meiosis, leading to the reshuffling of genetic material and the creation of new genetic combinations. Recombination breaks up unfavorable linkage blocks and allows the segregation of favorable alleles.

 

Evaluation: The progeny of the selected crosses are evaluated for the target traits, and the cycle of selection, mating, and recombination is repeated over multiple generations.

 

Cycling: Recurrent selection typically involves multiple cycles, with each cycle leading to the accumulation of favorable alleles and the improvement of the population for the target traits.

 

Recurrent selection is particularly effective for improving complex quantitative traits controlled by multiple genes, such as yield, disease resistance, and abiotic stress tolerance. By continuously selecting and recombining individuals with superior trait performance, recurrent selection programs can lead to significant genetic gains over time.