Precision breeding

Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay is a heterogenous immunoassay. Reactions involve a solid phase to which components are sequentially presented and successively bound. This method is very effective in the determination of the total alkaloid content. The positive characteristics of this method are the use of non-toxic reagents and basic equipment with low costs, a small sample volume and the ability to measure alkaloids in crude sample extracts. According to the literature, compared with results obtained from GLC, the precision of ELISA for quinolizidine alkaloids is not as high as that of the gas chromatography procedure, but is adequate for plant breeding purposes. The use of enzymes in developing the methods of quinolizidine alkaloids analysis looks likely to increase in the future. 

Such studies should be very precise. Products should preferably be grown or raised on experimental farms where production conditions can be controlled (Harker 2004), particularly when several combinations or options within a production system are tested. Another useful approach is the paired comparison of similar, neighbouring farms producing the same cultivar or breed under the two different production regimes. Studies need to include some assessment of the product to be consumed, including (if relevant) the preparation taking place in the home. 

Breeding conditions of adult ceriodaphnids are more precisely defined in the U.S. EPA standard than for daphnids in the ISO one. Moreover, individual cultures (between stock cultures and tests) generates juveniles in the same conditions as those required for the test ... 

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