b'NAPB HITS IT OUT OF THE PARKThe National Association of Plant Breeders annual meeting enjoyed a sellout crowd as the organization experiences record-high membership.Marc ZienkewiczTHE CORN BREEDINGworld has changedshould theoretically be able to meas- says Duke Pauli, incoming chair of immensely over the past century.ure exactly how much water a spe- the Plant Breeding Coordinating It was in the early 1900s thatcific corn plant is consuming duringCommittee, which founded the George Harrison Shull first presentedthe season, how many nutrients theNAPB. the idea that corn could be improvedplant is taking up, and whether theToday, most crop management by developing inbred lines, makingplant is deficient in water or nutrients. tends to be on the reactive side. and then testing crosses to determineBut thats not the eventual out- We see a problem, and we seek to which had the best yield, selecting thecome to which plant breeders areaddress it. If we can communicate best crosses, then providing the seedaspiring to. It goes beyond that,with plants, we kind of shift the par-to farmers. Known as the pure-lineas attendees of this years Nationaladigm to being more proactive. method of corn breeding, it was aAssociation of Plant BreedersPauli, a professor in the School revolution in plant breeding. (NAPB) meeting heard last month.of Plant Sciences at the University of Fast-forward to today and youllThe meeting was held at Iowa StateArizona, is part of a team of research-find researchers at the Iowa StateUniversity in Ames from Aug. 8-11. ers that has received a $25 million University Agronomy Farm experi- This years theme was the past,grant to develop a better way to com-menting with a robot that collectspresent and future of plant breeding. municate with plants and understand images and 3D structural data onPlants are like animals in thattheir signals.maize plant architecture as it movesthey cant get up and move awayAs futuristic as it may sound, the through the field.from hot or cold or walk to food.project essentially draws on the prin-Nitrate sensors taped to the leavesThe idea is, what would happen ifciples laid out by G. H. Shull back of corn plants continuously collectwe could talk to plants? Imaginein 1908harnessing the power of real-time data on transpiration andasking a plant what it needs, and itgenetics to create better plant varie-nitrate concentrations in the maize. comes back and tells you its a littleties and fuel the seed industry, bring-According to the researchers inlow on nitrogen, so you give it more.ing the past, present and future of the lab of Iowa State genetics profes- And, hey, if you could give it someplant breeding full circle.sor Pat Schnable, in the future theymore water, that would be great, Over half the NAPBs members came out for this years annual meeting in Iowa. Photo: Marc Zienkiewicz44GERMINATION.CASEPTEMBER 2022'