Can Spectra Predict Hybrid Success? A Maize Experiment

Did you know that scientists are using near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy to predict how well maize hybrids will perform? This method, called phenomic selection, could revolutionize hybrid breeding. Instead of genotyping thousands of parental lines, which is expensive, scientists are using NIR spectra to measure the chemical composition of these lines. They believe this reflects the genetic similarity between parental lines. In a recent study, researchers tested this idea using a sparse factorial design. This means they created hybrids from different parental lines and tested them in various environments. They found that both genomic and phenomic prediction approaches showed moderate to high predictive abilities. This means that the spectra could accurately predict how well the hybrids would perform.One exciting finding was that phenomic selection could also predict something called Mendelian sampling. This is like predicting how genes from parents will combine in offspring. The study showed that this method could be a low-cost, high-throughput way to predict maize hybrid performance in independent trials. This discovery is a big deal. It means that breeders could start using these prediction approaches right from the beginning of the breeding process. This could benefit both major and less common species.