Chapter

Marker Assisted Selection (MAS) in Crop Breeding

January 2025

DOI:10.37446/volbook102024/70

In book: Recent Advances in Plant Breeding (pp.70-78)
Publisher: Coronus Publications

Authors:

Noru Raja Sekhar Reddy

Kerala Agricultural University

Aiswarya Raj P T

Kerala Agricultural University

Marker-assisted selection (MAS) has become a cornerstone in modern crop breeding, significantly boosting precision in selecting traits that improve crop resilience, productivity, and adaptability to environmental stresses. Its integration has shortened breeding cycles and improved breeding efficiency, making it possible to address urgent agricultural challenges, such as climate change and food security, more effectively. Through MAS, crops are bred not only for immediate gains but also for sustainable performance, supporting long-term agricultural advancement.

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Marker Assisted Selection (MAS)

August 2024

Marker-assisted selection (MAS) refers to the biotechnology in crop breeding that employs molecular markers for the targeting of specific traits in plants. Researchers have been able to attach markers to genes which control various traits such as disease resistance, productivity and tolerance to adverse conditions, which facilitates the selection of plants within their seedlings thereby ... [Show full abstract] shortening breeding timelines. The application of MAS improves the selection of traits which are hard to quantify, shortens the time period for carrying out traditional breeding processes and makes it possible to create new crop varieties with enhanced effectiveness and versatility which aids in food security around the world.

Chapter

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Marker-Assisted Selection (MAS): Untapped Potential for Enhancing Food and Nutrition Securities in S...

November 2022

Global food security has raised concerns for the rapidly growing population and extreme weather due to climate change. Conventional plant breeding deployed the current greatly fecund crops, but there must be an increase in the genetic improvement to meet the anticipated future demand. Existing crop breeding techniques and recent technologies could resourcefully be reconnoitered to increase crop ... [Show full abstract] improvement in the façade of increasingly perplexing production condition, which is discussed in this chapter. Agriculture is vital in securing millions of people in sub-Saharan Africa, as it has prodigious potential to contribute to the economic development of the region, livelihood improvement through income generation, and enhancing the potential of smallholder farmers and related value chains. Moreover, scientific innovations like MAS offer great potential to drive this envisioned change; decades have passed since this technology was first used in the world, but Africa as a continent with more genetic diversity of crops remains underrepresented. Here, we reviewed a purview on screening methods and patterns of how genetic diversity of available crops in the continent are exploited, since marker-assisted selection and its potential in tackling food and nutritional insecurity as well as climate change cannot be overemphasized. In this chapter, we highlighted potential for applying MAS in the genomic resources available in Africa. We explored the most important methods of plant breeding used with their advantages and limitations. Additionally, the quiescent and consequences for assimilation of hi-tech innovations in genetics and breeding are also explored. Since smallholder farmers are the major beneficiaries, we scrutinized how to guarantee steady and sustainable production of crops in sub-Saharan Africa, thereby producing climate-smart crops in this region.

Last Updated: 08 Jan 2025