Institute of Plant Breeding, Genetics & Genomics:

Academic Programs

PhD Degree in Plant Breeding, Genetics & Genomics

The Institute will start offering PhD degrees in Plant Breeding, Genetics & Genomics later this year. In the mean time, interested students can apply through the Department of Crop and Soil Sciences or the Department of Horticulture.

The PhD degree requires a minimum of 27 hours of course work beyond a Master's degree. It also required 3 hours of research credit, and one hour of research seminar credit (CRSS/HORT 8861 – PBGG Research Seminar), and one hour of a communication skills seminar (CRSS/HORT 8861 – PBGG Research Seminar). One course must come from each of the five topical areas, as follows, for a total of 15 credit hours. Advanced Plant Breeding (CRSS/HORT 8140 or equivalent) and Plant Genetics (PBIO 8100) is required of everyone as is one 8000-level statistics course from Area 4. The remaining 12 credit hours are electives, as determined by the student together with his/her major professor and advisory committee.

Area 1: Plant Breeding:

CRSS 6000. Plant Breeding Practicum
HORT 8102. Breeding Ornamental Plants
CRSS (HORT) 8140. Advanced Plant Breeding
CRSS 8870. QTL mapping and discovery
CRSS 8871. Association mapping and diversity analysis
CRSS 8872. Genome analysis and comparative mapping
CRSS 8873. Transgenic breeding
CRSS 8880. Quantitative Aspects of Plant Breeding

Area 2: Genetics and Cytogenetics:

PBIO 8100. Plant Genetics
CRSS 8890-8890L. Plant Cytogenetics: Behavior and Evolution of the Plant Genome
PBIO 6720-6720L. Plant Variation and Evolution

Area 3. Plants and Their Environment:

PATH 6910. Genetics of Host Plant Resistance to Disease
PATH 6280-6280L. Diagnosis and Management of Plant Diseases
HORT 8150. Growth and Development of Horticultural Crops

Area 4. Biometry and Bioinformatics:

STAT 8090 Statistical Analysis of Genetic Data
STAT 8200 Design of Experiments for Research Workers
PBIO(BIOL) 6550. Bioinformatics Applications
STAT 6640. Statistical Methods in Bioinformatics. II
BCMB 8140. Advanced Topics in Genomics and Bioinformatics

Area 5. Biochemical and Molecular Genetics:

GENE 8920. Nucleic Acids
GENE 8930 Advanced Molecular Genetics
GENE 8940. Genome Analysis
BCMB 8010. Advanced Biochemistry and Molecular Biology I

Suggested electives for professional development:

ALDR 7200 Foundations of Agricultural Leadership
ALDR 7350 Group, Team, and Organizational Development in Agricultural Organizations
PBIO 8930. Science Writing for General Audiences
PBIO 8820. Plant Genetics and Molecular Biology Seminar. (critical analysis of literature)
GENE 8650 Responsible Science
EDHI 9010. Academic Programs in Higher Education
CRSS 7990. Supervised Teaching Practicum in Crop and Soil Sciences