Pureline selection method has many advantages and applications. At the same time it has disadvantages too. Those all are listed below.
Advantages of Pureline Selection
Merits of pureline selection are listed below
- Easy and cheap method of crop improvement
- Rapid method, lines are usually genetically fixed and yield trials can be immediately conducted.
- Plants in such variety react in similar fashion to environmental conditions, means they are uniform in performance and at the same time in appearance too.
- Maximum possible improvement over the original variety can be achieved
- Useful in improving low heritability traits as selection is based on progeny performance
Disadvantages of Pureline Selection
Demerits of pureline selection are given below
- Pure lines have poor adaptability due to narrow genetic base, just opposite to mass selected variety
- Superior genotypes can only be isolated from the mixed population. This selection is powerless to bring changes in hereditary factors i.e. to develop new genotype.
- Mostly popular or in fact limited to self pollinated spp. only
- Time and space consuming
- More expensive yield trials have to be conducted than in mass selection
Applications of Pureline Selection
Applications of pureline selection are listed below
- As pure line selection gives out uniformity in maturity, height etc. suitable for cultivars in which machines are used for the various production processes like harvesting.
- Because of the same reason as above it can be used for varieties grown for processing market, as uniformity in texture, canning qualities is important in here.
- It is practiced after hybridization within segregating populations
- Though it can serve above purposes this method has limited practical use in the breeding of major cultivated species. However, the method is still widely used while breeding less important species that have not yet been heavily selected.
- Logically it was first step in the development of a uniform variety for the newly domesticated crops, with some amount of variability
Steps in the development of pureline variety are given as Procedure for Pureline Selection. Visit to know details.