Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 48 Page 49 Page 50 Page 51 Page 52 Page 53 Page 54 Page 55 Page 56 Page 57 Page 58 Page 59 Page 60 Page 61 Page 62 Page 63 Page 64 Page 65 Page 66 Page 67 Page 68 Page 69 Page 70 Page 71 Page 72 Page 73 Page 74 Page 75 Page 76 Page 77 Page 78 Page 79 Page 80 Page 81 Page 82 Page 83 Page 8438 / SEEDWORLD.COM OCTOBER 2016 Scientists at Iowa State University propose a new strategy to accelerate plant breeding.Courtesy of Iowa State University A new study led by an Iowa State University agronomist may help sci- entists sift through vast amounts of plant seeds stored in gene bank facilities across the globe to identify those useful to plant breeders attempting to produce better varieties. The effort represents a proof-of- concept experiment that may help plant scientists separate the wheat from the chaff when it comes to selecting the best accessions to breed cultivars with better yield or stress resistance, says Jianming Yu, an associate professor of agronomy and the Pioneer Distinguished Chair in Maize Breeding. The new research, published in the peer-reviewed academic journal Nature Plants, focuses on sorghum used for bio- energy but could have ramifications for a range of crops, Yu says. “We think it’s possible to use these predictions to guide our breeding and selection decisions,” says Xiaoqing Yu, a postdoctoral agronomy research associ- ate and the first author of the paper. “We hope it will facilitate better and more precise breeding with the diverse genetic materials.” 38 / SEEDWORLD.COM OCTOBER 2016 Turbocharging GENE BANKS