1 Use of Marker Assisted Selection in a Product Development Breeding

Marker Assisted Selection (MAS) has held promise for impacting, perhaps revolutionizing, plant breeding disciplines. There are examples of commercial breeding programs making use of MAS in product development as a tool in breeding schemes for many agriculturally important crops, including grain, oilseeds, vegetables, ornamentals, and tree crops. In most cases, levels of efficiency in selection at early generations and characterization in later generations are the tangible deliverables from MAS. Building the infrastructure of a high throughput MAS program is a costly and time consuming process, with vision and patience required. As a case study, markers have proven to be a useful tool in the development of disease-resistant soybean (Glycine max) varieties. The efficiency they bring to the breeding process is measured by the success in accumulating desired traits, particularly soybean cyst nematode resistance, in a larger percentage of candidate experimental lines throughout the breeding pipeline. This technology has been sufficiently streamlined to allow for high throughput data generation in a timely manner that supports "traditional " cultivar development. The improvements for sample turn-around and total data point capacity are continuing to make MAS a cost-effective tool in the breeding of high performing soybean cyst nematode (SCN) resistant varieties. MAS for soybean produc