2018 ASHS Annual Conference

DNA-informed breeding techniques allow breeders to more quickly select and breed crops with desired traits and genes as compared to conventional breeding methods. Incorporation of this technology requires additional costs for reagents, machinery, and labor. In order to elucidate cost-effectiveness of DNA-informed breeding in perennial crops with multi-year generations; we conducted a cost-benefit analysis examining incorporation of marker-assisted selection (MAS), a type of DNA-informed breeding, in an apple breeding program. Annual production costs for a Midwest apple breeding program were used to construct a simulation using itemized costs and per unit costs for each procedure in the program. Simulations using these costs compared MAS at the greenhouse growth stage with cull rates of high (50%), medium (25%), and low (10%) to conventional breeding methods without MAS. The break-even point where cost-savings associated with MAS equals the additional costs incurred was then calculated. Additional sensitivity analyses were conducted exploring decreases in MAS laboratory costs, seedling maintenance costs, and seedling evaluation costs. These results have important implications for breeding programs of perennial crops considering incorporation of DNA-informed breeding.