Inbred Corn Line KW4P1344 Breeding for Genetic Stability

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Solution Overview

Problem

Current corn breeding efforts face challenges in developing stable, high-yielding hybrids that consistently produce superior parental lines with desirable traits such as disease resistance, drought tolerance, and improved nutritional quality, while maintaining genetic stability and uniformity.

Innovation Solution

The development of a novel inbred corn line, KW4P1344, which can be used to produce seeds, plants, and hybrids with specific traits like male sterility, herbicide resistance, and enhanced nutritional quality through mutagenesis, TILLING screening, and backcrossing methods, allowing for the introduction of transgenes and precise genetic modifications.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Productivity

If conventional corn breeding methods are used to develop high-yielding hybrids, then yield potential is improved, but genetic stability and uniformity deteriorate

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveyield potentialVSAvoidgenetic stability
Core Design Contradiction:
ProductivityVSStability of the object's composition

Solution Approach 1:

The breeding program is divided into distinct generations (P1, P2, F1, F2, F3, etc.) with specific selection objectives for each stage. This segmentation allows systematic improvement of yield traits while maintaining genetic control through defined breeding protocols at each generation level.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

Extensive preliminary selection and characterization of parental inbred lines is performed before hybrid development. The parental lines are pre-screened for desirable traits including disease resistance, stress tolerance, and yield components, ensuring that genetic stability is established before combining traits in hybrid crosses.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

2Adaptability or versatility

If multiple traits are introduced through mutagenesis and TILLING screening, then trait diversity is improved, but breeding complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvetrait diversityVSAvoidbreeding complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
Adaptability or versatilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

Traditional phenotypic selection is replaced with molecular-based TILLING screening methods that use biochemical and genetic techniques to identify mutated alleles. This substitution enables high-throughput detection of multiple traits simultaneously, managing breeding complexity through automated molecular assays rather than manual phenotypic evaluation.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #28Mechanics substitution (Replace mechanical system)

Solution Approach 2:

DNA sequencing and molecular markers serve as intermediaries between mutagenesis treatment and trait selection. These molecular tools mediate the identification and selection of desired mutations, simplifying the complex process of screening large mutant populations for multiple traits by providing objective, scalable detection methods.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

3Manufacturing precision

If transgenes are introduced through genetic modification, then nutritional quality is improved, but regulatory and approval processes become more complex

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvenutritional qualityVSAvoidregulatory complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
Manufacturing precisionVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

Genetic modification is applied locally to specific genes controlling nutritional quality traits rather than whole-genome transformation. This targeted approach modifies only the necessary loci (e.g., starch synthesis genes, protein composition genes) while maintaining the rest of the genome unchanged, thereby reducing regulatory complexity compared to comprehensive genetic engineering.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #3Local quality

4Stability of the object's composition

If backcrossing methods are used to maintain parental traits, then genetic uniformity is improved, but breeding time and resources increase

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvegenetic uniformityVSAvoidbreeding time
Core Design Contradiction:
Stability of the object's compositionVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The backcrossing breeding program maintains continuous selection pressure for desirable parental traits across multiple generations. By repeatedly crossing back to the recurrent parent and selecting for target traits at each generation, the program continuously reinforces genetic uniformity for parental characteristics while accumulating desired mutations or transgenes, reducing overall breeding time through sustained directional selection.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #20Continuity of useful action

Data Source

PatentUS12150424B2Inbred corn line KW4P1344
Publication Date: 2024.11.26 KWS SAAT SE & CO KGAA

AI summary

Inbred corn line, designated KW4P1344, are disclosed. The disclosure relates to the seeds of inbred corn line KW4P1344, to the plants and plant parts of inbred corn line KW4P1344 and to methods for producing a corn plant, either inbred or hybrid, by crossing inbred corn line KW4P1344 with itself or another corn line. The disclosure also relates to products produced from the seeds, plants, or parts thereof, of inbred corn line KW4P1344 and/or of the hybrids produced using the inbred as a parent. The disclosure further relates to methods for producing a corn plant containing in its genetic material one or more transgenes and to the transgenic plants produced by that method and to methods for producing other corn lines derived from inbred corn line KW4P1344.