Plant Breeding & Genetics

Genetic improvement of crops, from classical breeding to genomics.

Plant breeding develops new crop varieties with higher yield, better quality, disease resistance or tolerance to environmental stress. It combines classical crossing and selection with quantitative genetics, which estimates how much of a trait's variation is heritable.

Modern breeding relies heavily on molecular tools: genetic mapping and marker-assisted selection, genome sequencing, genomic selection, tissue culture, and genetic modification or genome editing - the latter regulated very differently from country to country.

Studying plant breeding & genetics

Degree programs in this subject often run under these names:

What you typically learn

  • Genetics and quantitative genetics
  • Classical breeding methods and variety testing
  • Molecular markers, genomics and genomic selection
  • Plant biotechnology and genome editing
  • Seed production and seed law
  • Statistics and bioinformatics

Where graduates typically work

  • Seed and breeding companies
  • Variety testing and plant variety protection offices
  • Biotechnology and genomics laboratories
  • Public and international breeding programs
  • Gene banks and conservation of plant genetic resources

Curricula differ by country and institution - the program pages linked below have the details.

Where to study plant breeding & genetics

74 programs in 33 countries. See all 74 programs

Where research is heading

Typical research questions

  • Which genes and genomic regions control yield, quality and resistance traits?
  • How much faster can genomic selection deliver genetic gain than phenotypic selection?
  • How can genetic diversity from landraces and wild relatives be used in breeding?
  • What do new breeding techniques change in practice, and how are they regulated?

Publications per year

Papers whose main topic belongs to this field, 2010–2025.

0 20k 40k2010: 31,55420102011: 29,5792012: 31,9342013: 31,8222014: 31,6892015: 34,40420152016: 34,3172017: 32,7092018: 32,7272019: 32,9422020: 33,90320202021: 33,5142022: 28,4792023: 32,5782024: 28,1012025: 35,5412025

Research fronts: fastest-growing topics

Papers 2024–2025 compared with 2021–2022, topics with at least 500 recent papers.

Topic2021–20222024–2025Change
Agricultural Practices and Plant Genetics[object Object] · [object Object] · [object Object] · [object Object]6231,000+61%
Genetics and Plant Breeding[object Object] · [object Object] · [object Object] · [object Object]9,73311,542+19%
Plant Gene Expression Analysis[object Object] · [object Object] · [object Object] · [object Object]2,9633,404+15%
Plant Genetic and Mutation Studies[object Object] · [object Object] · [object Object] · [object Object]1,2641,385+10%
Plant tissue culture and regeneration[object Object] · [object Object] · [object Object] · [object Object]7,8168,351+7%
Transgenic Plants and Applications[object Object] · [object Object] · [object Object] · [object Object]764770+1%

Largest topics

By number of papers 2024–2025.

  1. Genetics and Plant Breeding[object Object] · [object Object] · [object Object] · [object Object] 11,542
  2. Plant Molecular Biology Research[object Object] · [object Object] · [object Object] · [object Object] 8,604
  3. Plant tissue culture and regeneration[object Object] · [object Object] · [object Object] · [object Object] 8,351
  4. Wheat and Barley Genetics and Pathology[object Object] · [object Object] · [object Object] · [object Object] 7,130
  5. Chromosomal and Genetic Variations[object Object] · [object Object] · [object Object] · [object Object] 6,448
  6. Genetic and Environmental Crop Studies[object Object] · [object Object] · [object Object] · [object Object] 5,741

Highly cited recent papers

Most-cited articles and reviews published 2024–2025. Citation counts favor reviews and papers published early in the window.

  1. High Efficiency In vitro Whole Plant Regeneration via Desiccated Callus in Oryza sativa cv. MTU1010 Anjana Priyadarshani Kanathala, Srinivas Naik Kethavath, Prashanth Bollempally et al. · International Journal of Innovative Science and Research Technology (IJISRT) · 2024 · 407 citations · Open access
  2. Comparative genomics reveals the dynamics of chromosome evolution in Lepidoptera Charlotte J Wright, Lewis Stevens, Alexander Mackintosh et al. · Nature Ecology & Evolution · 2024 · 322 citations · Open access
  3. Phenylpropanoids metabolism: recent insight into stress tolerance and plant development cues Vincent Ninkuu, Oluwaseun Olayemi Aluko, Jianpei Yan et al. · Frontiers in Plant Science · 2025 · 278 citations · Open access
  4. Earl Grey: A Fully Automated User-Friendly Transposable Element Annotation and Analysis Pipeline Tobias Baril, James D. Galbraith, Alexander Hayward · Molecular Biology and Evolution · 2024 · 241 citations · Open access
  5. Advances in genomic tools for plant breeding: harnessing DNA molecular markers, genomic selection, and genome editing Rahul Kumar, Sankar Prasad Das, Burhan U. Choudhury et al. · Biological Research · 2024 · 239 citations · Open access
  6. Multiple roles of NAC transcription factors in plant development and stress responses Haiyan Xiong, Haidong He, Yu Chang et al. · Journal of Integrative Plant Biology · 2025 · 232 citations · Open access

All study programs in plant breeding & genetics

All study programs