PLANT BREEDING SOFTWARE SOFTWARE

Laboratory sessions, along with class activities, are considered to be very important in the efficient and successful teaching of genetics and plant breeding ( Rodríguez-Burruezo et al., 2009a). In this respect, one of the most effective ways to integrate ideas and favor students' ability to consolidate their knowledge is based on complementing the theory with activities that come close to real-world practices ( St. In some cases, students may lose interest in the subject and consequently may fail in their courses. Without an integrative view of the whole discipline, students may devote most of their efforts to the study of individual units and might end up without a cohesive understanding of the whole process of breeding programs.

Because of the comprehensive features of plant breeding, students may find it difficult to understand the basic concepts and approaches of plant breeding programs, which are frequently long and complex processes involving multiple steps and decisions. Plant breeding is an exciting agricultural discipline as it integrates a broad range of fields of study, such as genetics, crop science, horticulture, botany, biochemistry, molecular biology, pathology, entomology, and statistics. Keywords: Cucumis melo effective learning breeding methods Retromelon

PLANT BREEDING SOFTWARE SOFTWARE

This software is available upon request both in English and Spanish versions. Our results have shown that the use of this tool in the classroom increases the motivation of the students, and therefore, benefits the learning process. This software is being used by undergraduate horticulture students. The software simulates the most important steps and decisions that must be made by a plant breeder in a backcross breeding program, including the number of individuals to evaluate in each generation, evaluation of agronomic traits, and selection of individuals. This software is designed to recreate a real melon ( Cucumis melo) backcross breeding program aimed at introgressing the resistance to melon vine decline from the tolerant melon cultivar Pat81 into the susceptible cultivar Piel de Sapo. We also evaluate its suitability and performance as a learning tool. Here we present a student-friendly software tool, Retromelon, for simulating the backcross breeding method. Tools of communication and information technologies offer a great opportunity to improve students' skills, but only a few software are available for training undergraduate students in plant breeding programs. Plant breeding programs involve multiple steps, and their complete development cannot be experienced by students in a single academic year.

Plant breeding software