Genomics Research in Plant Breeding
C T Ganesh,
Research Scientist Agriscience,
ITC Limited
Today, the principles and theories of plant breeding, once learnt though Mendelian way is being well-explained by the merits of advancements in molecular biology techniques. The understanding of genes and their functions are now refined and demonstrated through sequence mining, comparative genomics and allied bioinformatics capabilities, making it easy for breeders to walk through the genome, scanning for target regions and selecting the variability of choice for crop improvement. Today’s high throughput screening platforms coupled with down-streaming cost of genotyping has led to record a large scale turnouts in plant selections made possible at a nucleotide resolution. Developments in genetics, epigenetics and automated phenotyping are the boosts to breeding processes to dissect compound traits with ease and make right progress in the context of core purpose and associated key benefits. Understandings on epigenetics has led to identify and transfer insights from animal kingdom to plant kingdom and enabled breeders with a novel insights and screening tools to look beyond DNA sequences for genetic improvements in crop plants. Research in microRNA and silencing RNA adds unmatched opportunity to create novel variability, when carefully utilized to unravel the research potential to become a revenue opportunity. The presentation would discuss some of these developments in genomics and their relevance in impacting the speed and efficiency towards sustainable plant breeding applications.
|
|
