Backcrossing

Backcrossing is a crossing of a hybrid with one of its parents.

Advantages

 * If the recurrent parent is an elite genotype, at the end of the backcrossing programme an elite genotype is recovered
 * As there is no "new" recombination, the elite combination is not lost

Disadvantages

 * Works poorly for quantitative traits
 * Is more restricted for recessive traits
 * In practice, sections of genome from the non-recurrent parents are often still present and can have deleterious traits associated with them
 * For very wide crosses, limited recombination may maintain thousands of ‘alien’ genes within the elite cultivar

Natural backcrossings
York radiate groundsel (Senecio eboracensis) is a naturally occurring hybrid species of Oxford ragwort (S. squalidus) and common groundsel (S. vulgaris). It is thought to have arisen from a backcrossing of the F1 hybrid with S. vulgaris.