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Julius Kühn-Institut (JKI)
Federal Research Centre
for Cultivated Plants

Head
Dr. Ralf Wilhelm

Address
Erwin-Baur-Str. 27
06484 Quedlinburg, Germany

Office
Mr. Tobias Wittig
Tel: +49 (0)3946 47-3301
Fax: +49(0)3946 47-3302
E-mail: sb@  julius-kuehn.  de

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Institute leaflet
Institute brochure

Genome stability

Breeding new types or variants of plants is based on the recombination of two different parent genomes. The mechanism playing a key role for this event is a DNA damage repair, the so-called double strand break repair, or in other words, no recombination without prior double-strand break and its subsequent repair. Due to crossover during meiosis, this process allows establishing new combinations from different genomes. However, since often only homologous regions recombine or no exchange of genes takes place at all, an overall genome stability is guaranteed. For a targeted breeding of plants applying biotechnological techniques, it is of prime importance that the integration locus of new genes can be determined in advance.