Precision design breeding of crops

Intelligent combination of natural variation and intelligent creation of artificial variation

Resumo

Crop breeding is shifting from traditional empirical breeding toward BT+IT-driven precision design breeding. Improving the capacity of precision design breeding is of great significance for addressing global food security in the future. Future precision design breeding of crops will feature a "two-wheel drive" mode: intelligent hybrid breeding, based on genotypic/phenotypic/environmental data and breeding models, uses genomic prediction/selection to precisely design optimal combinations of natural variations and realize them through the most efficient crossing schemes; biotechnology-assisted breeding, empowered by artificial intelligence and synthetic evolution technologies, designs DNA and protein sequences that can be applied in gene-editing and synthetic biology. This review discusses the theoretical basis, technical approaches, and development trends of the precision design breeding paradigm in crops.