Increased use of intellectual property rights over plant germplasm has led to a complicated landscape for exchange among plant breeders. Our goal was to examine phenotypic and genotypic diversity present in commercially available carrot (Daucus carota L. var. sativus) germplasm in relation to the freedom to operate-the ability for plant breeders to access and use crop genetic diversity. A colle...

Animal societies composed of breeders and non-breeders present a challenge to evolutionary theory because it is not immediately apparent how natural selection can preserve the genes that underlie non-breeding strategies. The clownfish Amphiprion percula forms groups composed of a breeding pair and 0-4 non-breeders. Non-breeders gain neither present direct, nor present indirect benefits from the...

As central place foragers, breeding penguins are restricted in foraging range by the need to return to the colony to feed chicks. Furthermore, breeding birds must balance energetic gain from self-feeding with the costs of returning to provision young. Non-breeding birds, however, are likely to be less restricted in foraging range and lack the high energy demands of provisioning, therefore may c...

Parentage analysis was performed on the plum cultivars `Cacaks Beauty', `Cacaks Best', `Cacaks Early' and `Cacaks Fruitful' using the RAPD-technique with 26 decamer primers. The cross combination `Stanley' `Pozegaca' of the progeny `Cacaks Fruitful' could be confirmed and the data were in agreement with those of the breeders Paunovic et al. (1974). For the cultivars `Cacaks Beauty', `Cacaks Bes...

Plant breeders contributed enormously to the agricultural and economic development of the United States. By improving the profi tability of farming, plant breeders improved the economic condition of farmers and contributed to the growth and structure of rural communities. In the years since World War II, agriculture and the quality of rural life have been driven by policies that encouraged and ...

Economic theory highlights the critical importance of excludability in encouraging private research and development in the agri-food sector. Without it, private research will languish and social welfare could suffer. Since 1970 governments around the world have recognized this and strengthened the legal protections for biotechnology processes and products (e.g. patents, plant breeders’ rights a...

In many countries, farmer saved seed (FSS) competes directly with a highly regulated commercial industry that sells certified seed. Opponents to the use FSS argue it reduces royalty income for plant breeders and is inferior in quality, which farm profitability. We because farmers have knowledge about field history quality of seed, they can make profit enhancing decisions use, or not FSS. also s...

The program "Nb_HetEx" estimates the effective number of breeders (N(b)) that produced the sampled progeny based on genotype counts contained in that sample. When the number of breeders is very small, there is an excess of heterozygotes in their progeny: the smaller the number of breeders, the larger the heterozygote excess. The Nb_HetEx program also estimates N(e) through the temporal method.