Application of molecular markers in plant genome study

Abstract

The development of molecular techniques for genetic analysis has led to a great increase in our knowledge of plant genetics and our understanding of the structure and behaviour of plant genome. During last three decades, several powerful DNA based marker technologies have been developed for the assessment of genetic diversities and molecular marker assisted breeding technology. In plant systems, the prospects of DNA profiling and fingerprinting is becoming indispensable in the context of establishment of molecular phylogeny, assessment of somaclonal variants, characterization of plant genomics, marker- based gene tags, map-based cloning of agronomically important genes, variability studies, synteny mapping, marker-assisted selection of desirable genotypes etc. In this review article, various molecular markers are reviewed with emphasis on specific areas of their application in higher plants.