Updated October 30, 2017:
The objective of this project is to continue to support a scientist (since 2004) to manage a winter nursery in Puerto Rico to expedite the breeding cycle of lines containing genes with targeted compositional quality traits. A well-run winter nursery, complete with mobile lights to manipulate daylength, can achieve two backcrosses per offseason and thereby decrease overall development of a targeted line form 4-6 years to 2-3 years.
In 2010, most breeding focused on advancing mid-oleic lines from several universities. Currently in winter 2010-11, a source of high oleic (>80%), that carry mutations for two recessive genes FAD2-1a and FAD2-1b, are being backcrossed into elite breeding lines that will serve as recurrent parents in a marker assisted breeding program. At this pace, this University of Missouri non-GMO source of high oleic can enter broad yield testing in 2013.
This project is an ongoing component to a larger project that supports the breeding of mid to high oleic soybean varieties - which are still in development at this juncture.