| Summary: | Quantitative (Population-) Epigenetics describes the variability observed in characters due to factors in the environment induced primarily by the gamut of chemical compounds screened for regulatory efficacy. Likewise, index selection based on the statistical Quantitative (Population-) Epigenetics theory can be used to improve efficiency in screening compounds for their potential to enhance quantitative characters such as yield, stability and resistance to unfavourable environmental influences (e.g., water stress, cold temperatures or disease resistance). Optimal screening efficiency of regulator-active compounds is obtained with high environmental variability, low heritability (characters for which the genotype sets a wide ‘norm of reaction’ on environmental influences), high correlation between characters under indirect selection and intensity of selection is shown.
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