Adjustment of parental frequencies to maximize the diversity of a synthetic population

Summary A method is outlined for maximizing the mean genetic distance among plants in a synthetic population by adjusting the relative contributions of the population's parents. The largest latent vector of the genetic distance matrix is used to find relative parental frequencies. The largest increases in the diversity of a synthetic will be achieved when there are different-sized clusters of parents, with considerably larger distances between than within clusters. The method may have application in maximizing the yields of synthetic cultivars or the resistance of multi-line cultivars.Joint contribution of the USDA-ARS and Department of Agronomy, Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station. Contribution No. 87-435-J