Titel: Leveraging genomic prediction and GWAS to modernize distinctness,uniformity, and stability (DUS) testing in maize
Abstract:
DUS (Distinctness, Uniformity, and Stability) testing is essential for plant variety registration but remains time-consuming and environmentally variable, limiting the efficiency of variety development pipelines. To address these limitations, the Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV) has proposed integrating molecular markers into DUS protocols through three Benchmark Models (BMT 1, 2, and 3). In our study, we evaluated the potential of genome-wide association studies (GWAS) and genomic prediction to develop molecular marker approaches for maize DUS testing within the UPOV BMT framework, combining historical DUS trait assessments from European hybrid varieties with high-density SNP genotypes to establish a practical genomic framework for accelerating variety registration.
Biography:
Anurag is a postdoctoral researcher at the Institute of Plant Breeding, Seed Science and Population Genetics at the University of Hohenheim. He completed his PhD at the National Institute of Plant Genome Research in New Delhi, India, where he investigated the genetic architecture underlying grain size and weight in Basmati rice.
