Breeding Glossary

• Allele– an alternative version of a gene.
• Anther– the part of the stamen that bears the pollen.  When making a cross, this is the portion you want to collect from the male parent.
• Backcross– a breeding method used to move one or only a few desirable genes from an agronomically poor crop line to an elite line. This is done by crossing a donor parent (in genetic engineering this is the transgenic plant) to an elite line, and crossing offspring with the ‘desired gene(s)’ back to the elite parent for several generations.
• Biotechnology– using life processes to produce a product useful to humans.  Genetic engineering is one example of biotechnology.
• Chromosome– DNA is found in large molecules in the nucleus known as chromosomes.  Each chromosome is composed of thousands of genes. During cell division, chromosomes duplicate and divide, maintaining the genetic integrity of the organism.
• Elite– a crop line that has many genes for good agronomic traits that result in high yields in a particular environment.
• Filament– the stalk that bears the anther in a stamen.
• Gamete– a mature male or female reproductive cell (sperm or ovum) containing half of the total number of chromosomes in a cell.
• Genotype– the allelic composition of a cell or organism, usually represented with a mix of capital and lower case letters.
• Germplasm– living genetic resources such as seed used in a breeding program.
• Homozygous– an organism that has two identical alleles at one or more locations on a chromosome.
• Node– a ‘joint’ on a stem where shoots, leaves, and flowers arise.
• Ovary– the lower part of the pistil that contains the ovules and ripens into a fruit
• Ovule– structure containing the embryo sac, found in seed plants. It turns into a seed after fertilization.
• Perfect flower– A flower that contains both male and female structures.
• Pistil– the female reproductive structure in plants. It includes the stigma, style, and ovary.
• Punnett square– a visual depiction of all the possible ways the alleles from two parents could combine.
• Sepals– a modified leaf which is usually green and can help protect the flower when in bud.
• Somatic cell– body cells.
• Stamen– the male reproductive part of a flower.  It is comprised of the anther and filament.
• Stigma– the part of the pistil that receives pollen in plants.  When making a cross, your goal is to place the pollen here on the female parent.
• Style– the part of the pistil that transports the sperm collected by the stigma to the ovary for fertilization and development of the egg.
• Transgene– a gene that is transferred in the process of genetic engineering.
• Transgenic line– a plant and the seeds derived from it that have been genetically engineered.
• Yield lag– a reduction in yield in the transgenic line when compared with the original line.