Development of extremely short season maize

北美玉米育种的下一个前沿是加拿大的短季节生长环境，特别是马尼托巴、萨斯喀彻温和安大略的部分地区。专门为这些环境开发的杂交品种非常有限，阻碍了这些地区玉米种植面积的扩大。该提案代表了加拿大唯一的大学玉米育种者，加拿大最大的玉米种子公司（Maizex Seeds Inc.），和DLF Pickseed，直到最近还是一家加拿大人拥有的公司，专门为加拿大东部和西部提供牧草和草皮。 总的来说，我们的目标是开发专为马尼托巴、安大略和其他西部省份独特的极短季节环境设计的近交亲本和杂交组合。 除了自交系和杂交种的开发，我们的研究集中在3个关键问题上，这将大大促进未来的育种工作。 (1)环境和玉米作物的哪些特征限制了生产力并增加了作物歉收的风险？ (2)在这些极短的季节环境中，一个成功的玉米杂交种的理想特征是什么？ (3)这些理想特征是如何遗传的？ 最后，这个高度协作的提案为本科生和研究生创造了一个独特的机会，让他们能够与商业玉米育种者和产品经理并肩工作，获得实践经验。

The next frontier for corn breeding in North America is the shorter season growing environments of Canada, specifically Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and parts of Ontario. Hybrids specifically developed for these environments are extremely limited, retarding the expansion of corn acreage in these regions. This proposal represents the collaborative efforts of the sole University corn breeder in Canada, the largest Canadian-owned seed corn company (Maizex Seeds Inc.), and DLF Pickseed which until recently was a Canadian-owned company specializing in forages and turf for Eastern and Western Canada. Collectively our aim is to develop inbred parents and hybrid combinations that are designed for the unique extremely short season environments of Manitoba, Ontario and the other Western Provinces. Beyond the development of inbred lines and hybrids, our research focuses on 3 key questions, which will greatly facilitate future breeding efforts. (1) What features of the environment and of the corn plant limit productivity and increase risk of crop failure? (2) What are the ideal characteristics of a successful corn hybrid in these extremely short season environments? (3) How are these ideal characteristics inherited? Finally, this highly collaborative proposal creates a unique opportunity for both undergrad and graduate students to acquire hands-on experience working side-by-side with commercial corn breeders and product managers.