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DECEMBER 2015 SEEDWORLD.COM 101 66 This is something thats becoming more and more important for breeders Laufer adds. Not all the breeders we talk with are working with genetic markers but they all say they will be one day. The Possibilities The selling point for the major companies pushing software technology designed for breeders is in the analysis. At the end of the day all that data has to mean something. Once physical traits are recorded breeders can upload genetic analyses of those plants to determine which genes may be responsible for the plants characteristics. Thats not something likely to be done in a spreadsheet or with pencil and paper. They need to be able to take all that genetic data and relate it to the phenotypic data avail- able Mulitze says. It could be that the genes responsible for a particular trait arent known. The programs can identify genetic sequences that could be at play allowing breeders to make new discoveries. We dont have markers for everything Mulitze says. We dont have them all identified. The databased information can also be recalled for long periods or specific conditions allowing breeders to understand how their lines react to different climates for instance. We can pull out all the data for a trait. Heres a couple of plants pull the data for the past five to 10 years for wet years or dry years Mulitze says. Laufer says there are also crossing recommendation tools under develop- ment that will give breeders a glimpse of the likelihood of success of a cross between two parent plants based on an advanced algorithm and machine learning and will help breeders to make better decisions. If there are 1000 parent lines available there are hundreds of thousands of potential crosses available to make. Breeders can use a prediction tool not to replace their skill but to see possibilities that might have been otherwise buried in that mountain of data. You can follow your gut feeling or go on some analysis you have but the possibility that you have a successful cross is small as it is Laufer says. Its not supposed to replace the decisions by breeders but it will help breeders mine the data breeders gathered and make recommendations. What software companies really want to get through to breeders is that there is a world of technology out there that can vastly improve their abili- ties to record store sort and analyze the data they need to create successful hybrids. And using that technology keeps those breeders doing what they do best rather than fiddling with programs that were never designed to do the job in the first place. That technology is also changing as the science involved in breeding changes. When molecular markers became a significant method of identifying the genes responsible for plant characteristics the software companies were able to incorporate that into their technologies. Plant breeding data management and plant breeding software has made huge steps in the past 10 years Laufer says. SW