PLANT BREEDING FOR DROUGHT TOLERANCE
Moisture deficits loom as one of the greatest challenges to future
crop production, both in rainfed and irrigated agriculture.
Enhancing the genetic tolerance of crops to drought stress, together
with improved agronomic practices, is considered an essential
strategy for addressing these deficits. To respond to the need for
more plant scientists trained in developing drought tolerant
cultivars, Colorado State University and University of
Nebraska-Lincoln will offer a one-credit online course in Plant
Breeding for Drought Tolerance Sept. 26 to Oct. 28, 2011.
TARGET AUDIENCE
The course is targeted to graduate students in the plant sciences,
as well as to professionals in the public and private sectors. It
will provide one transferable graduate-level credit.
CONTENT
The course will focus on plant breeding strategies and practices
directed toward improving plant performance under drought stress.
Concepts for this intensive, one-credit graduate level course include:
* Understanding the target environment
* Determining which phenotypic traits to use in selection practices
* Understanding transgenic approaches and quantitative trait
locus analysis for improving drought tolerance
* Learning from successful examples of improving drought
tolerance in a variety of crops
* Integrating techniques learned in the course into a breeding
or research program strategy
The 5-week curriculum is divided into 15 lessons. Each lesson's
content will be delivered via a voice-over PowerPoint presentation,
a video, a relevant reading assignment, or combinations of these
media. Some lessons will require student participation in an online
discussion or completion of a homework assignment. The 15 lessons
will be followed by a proctored final exam. Throughout the course
students will work on creating a portfolio of documents describing
an analysis and breeding strategy for a specific crop and
environment. The course will be given in English.
PREREQUISITES
Participants should have a solid understanding of genetics, plant
breeding, and basic plant physiology. Prior to the beginning of the
course, students will review online material on these topics to
provide a common background in breeding and physiology concepts.
PROGRAM COSTS AND REQUIREMENTS
The cost of student tuition is approximately $550 (amount to be
finalized in June 2011). Word processing, spreadsheet, and
presentation software (e.g., Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint)
is required, as is Adobe Reader (available for free online).
Students are required to have access to a computer and Internet
access that meet the general CSU recommendations found online at
http://www.colostate.edu/Services/ACNS/standards/student.html.
FUNDING
Partial funding for the course is provided by a grant from the
USDA-AFRI Plant Breeding and Education program.
REGISTRATION AND INFORMATION
More information and applications are available online at
http://www.droughtadaptation.org/onlinecourse.html. Interested
students are encouraged to visit the course website for more
details, or send an email to the Program Assistant, Annie Heiliger,
at [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>
with questions.
