Details for Can genomics boost productivity of orphan crops?

Varshney RK, Ribaut J-M , Buckler ES, Tuberosa R, Rafalski JA and Langridge P (2012). Can genomics boost productivity of orphan crops? Nature Biotechnology 30:1172–1176. (DOI: 10.1038/nbt.2440).

Advances in genomics over the past 20 years have enhanced the precision and efficiency of breeding programsin many temperate cereal crops. One of the first applications of genomics-assisted breeding has been the introgression of loci for resistance to biotic stresses or major quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for tolerance to abiotic stresses into elite genotypes through marker-assisted backcrossing (MABC)4. For instance, introgression of a major QTL for submergence tolerance (Sub1) into widely grown rice varieties has substantially improved yield in >15 million hectares of rain-fed low-land rice in South and Southeast Asia5. Despite this success story, the overall adoption of genomics-assisted breeding in developing countries is still limited especially for complex traits like yield under environmental stress in several other crops.

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