Hybrid Corn Breeding for Stable Traits and Genetic Diversity

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing corn breeding techniques struggle to develop hybrids with uniformity and stability, incorporating desirable traits such as yield, disease resistance, and drought tolerance, while maintaining genetic diversity and avoiding self-pollination.

Innovation Solution

The development of the hybrid corn variety CH010464, which includes cytoplasmic or nuclear factors for male sterility and genetic modifications like herbicide resistance, insect resistance, and disease resistance, achieved through methods such as backcrossing and genetic transformation, ensuring uniformity and stability.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If conventional breeding techniques are used to develop corn hybrids, then genetic diversity can be maintained, but uniformity and stability of desirable traits are difficult to achieve

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveuniformity and stability of desirable traitsVSAvoidgenetic diversity
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSAdaptability or versatility

Solution Approach 1:

The breeding program segments the development process into distinct phases: creating homozygous inbred lines through repeated self-pollination, then crossing these standardized lines to produce uniform hybrids. This segmentation allows each phase to optimize for its specific goal while maintaining overall genetic diversity through careful selection of parental lines.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The patent applies preliminary action by developing and stabilizing inbred parental lines through multiple generations of self-pollination and selection before performing the actual hybrid cross. This preliminary standardization ensures that the resulting hybrids will exhibit consistent uniformity and stability of traits, while the selection process maintains genetic diversity in the parental pool.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

2Stability of the object's composition

If self-pollination is allowed in corn breeding, then homozygous inbred lines can be produced, but genetic diversity is reduced and self-incompatibility mechanisms are triggered

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvehomozygosity of inbred linesVSAvoidgenetic diversity
Core Design Contradiction:
Stability of the object's compositionVSAdaptability or versatility

Solution Approach 1:

The patent extracts the self-pollination process from the broader breeding program, applying it specifically and systematically during the inbred line development phase. By isolating this mechanism to a dedicated phase rather than allowing it throughout the entire breeding process, the program achieves homozygosity when needed while maintaining genetic diversity through subsequent cross-pollination between different inbred lines.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Solution Approach 2:

The breeding program dynamically adjusts the pollination strategy based on the breeding phase: self-pollination is employed during inbred line development to achieve homozygosity, then cross-pollination is used in the hybridization phase to restore genetic diversity and produce uniform hybrids. This dynamic approach allows the system to optimize for different objectives at different stages.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #15Dynamics

3Adaptability or versatility

If multiple breeding methods are combined to incorporate desirable traits, then trait incorporation is improved, but breeding program complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveincorporation of desirable traitsVSAvoidbreeding program complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
Adaptability or versatilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent merges multiple breeding methods including pedigree breeding, recurrent selection, and molecular marker-assisted selection into a unified hybrid breeding program. These methods are combined in a systematic sequence where each contributes specific functions: pedigree breeding for trait tracking, recurrent selection for improving population quality, and marker-assisted selection for precise trait incorporation, thereby managing complexity through integration rather than isolation of methods.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #5Merging (Combining)

Solution Approach 2:

The breeding program employs multi-functional approaches where single breeding operations serve multiple purposes. For example, the same inbred line development process simultaneously achieves homozygosity, stabilizes desirable traits, and creates uniform parental material for hybrid production. This multi-functionality reduces overall program complexity by eliminating redundant steps.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #6Universality (Multi-functionality)

Data Source

PatentUS12582063B2Plants and seeds of hybrid corn variety CH010464
Publication Date: 2026.03.24 MONSANTO TECHNOLOGY LLC

AI summary

According to the disclosure, there is provided seed and plants of the hybrid corn variety designated CH010464. The disclosure thus relates to the plants, seeds, and tissue cultures of the variety CH010464, and to methods for producing a corn plant produced by crossing a corn plant of variety CH010464 with itself or with another corn plant, such as a plant of another variety. The disclosure further relates to genetic complements of plants of variety CH010464.