Genomewide Selection with Minimal Crossing in Self‐Pollinated Crops

Genomewide selection in plants has focused on cross‐pollinated species, such as maize ( Zea mays L.), in which selected plants can be easily crossed to obtain a large number of seeds for the next cycle of selection. Here I describe and present simulation results for a genomewide selection procedure that requires minimal crossing in self‐pollinated crops. This procedure, referred to as GWS Self , involves producing only a few F 1 seeds from crosses among the selected progenies in Cycle 0, allowing the F 1 seeds to naturally self‐pollinate to produce F 2 seeds, conducting marker‐based selection among the resulting F 2 plants, and repeating this select‐recombine‐self procedure in a year‐round nursery or greenhouse. With barley ( Hordeum vulgare L.) as a model species, I found from simulation experiments that selection responses with GWS Self were 81 to 87% of the responses obtained if genomewide selection procedures appropriate for maize were used. These lower responses can be compensated for by more stringent selection.