Molecular Markers and Crop Improvement

This book covers the fundamentals of plant molecular marker techniques, from marker location to gene cloning. Molecular marker technology has brought about significant changes in plant breeding and agriculture. Numerous molecular marker types have been employed in recent decades for a variety of tasks, including genetic resource characterization, marker-assisted selection, mapping, etc. Though the limited number of markers that could be tested at once has resulted in time-consuming and expensive results, these have produced effective genotyping. Recent advancements in molecular marker techniques have opened up new possibilities for crop improvement. These include the development of high-throughput genotyping platforms, genotyping by sequencing, and the release of genome sequences of significant crop plants. In addition, functional molecular markers, association mapping methodologies, and genotype-by-sequencing have unlocked up new possibilities for the identification of new genetic resources (lines) that can accelerate crop breeding programs for higher productivity, higher nutritional quality, and tolerance to a range of biotic and abiotic stresses. Technical methods for genome analysis, such as array techniques, positional cloning, and marker system comparison, are described in the text. This book discusses the use of molecular technologies in crop improvement going forward, reviewing recent developments as well as past accomplishments. All the significant and pertinent research in the field is collected in one volume. A comprehensive explanation of crop molecular markers is given, along with conclusions regarding the method's worth, potential, drawbacks, and challenges for future use in different crops. In addition, a critical analysis and discussion of the existing literature are conducted, crop by crop. This is a very thorough manual for academics, researchers, students, and anybody else interested in using molecular markers as a crop tool.

Dr. Nand Kishor Sharma is presently working as an assistant professor at the Department of Plant Science, SRM University, Sonepat, India. He completed his Ph.D. in Plant Biology from NABI, New Delhi, in 2020. He has more than five years of research experience in the field of crop plants improvement and environmental protection. He has published 12 research articles in high-impact international and national journals. He has also received several awards for his contributions from different government organizations of India like SERB, BARC, CSIR, and DBT. Dr. Sharma is a life member of several societies as well as non-governmental organizations and serves as an Editor for respected international journals.