Skip to main content
ARS Home » Midwest Area » Madison, Wisconsin » Vegetable Crops Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #321913
Title: Application of genomics-assisted breeding for generation of climate resilient crops: progress and prospects

Author
item KOLE, CHITTARANJAN - Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidayala University
item MUTHAMILARASAN, MEHANATHAN - National Institute Of Plant Genome Research
item HENRY, ROBERT - University Of Queensland
item EDWARDS, DAVID - University Of Queensland
item SHARMA, RISHU - Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidayala University
item ABBERTON, MICHAEL - International Institute Of Tropical Agriculture (IITA)
item BATLEY, JACQUELINE - University Of Queensland
item BENTLEY, ALISON - National Institute Of Agricultural Botany (NIAB)
item BLAKENEY, MICHAEL - Queen Mary University Of London
item BRYANT, JOHN - University Of Exeter
item Simon, Philipp

Submitted to: Frontiers in Plant Science
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 7/1/2015
Publication Date: 8/11/2015
Publication URL: https://handle.nal.usda.gov/10113/61811
Citation: Kole, C., Muthamilarasan, M., Henry, R., Edwards, D., Sharma, R., Abberton, M., Batley, J., Bentley, A., Blakeney, M., Bryant, J., Simon, P.W., et al. 2015. Application of genomics-assisted breeding for generation of climate resilient crops: progress and prospects. Frontiers in Plant Science. 6:563. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2015.00563.

Interpretive Summary: Recent trends in climatic patterns have threatened crop production frequently and over large geographic regions. As a consequence, crops bred for future global agricultural production will likely require a greater ability to withstand environmental stress such as heat, cold, drought, flooding, and salinity. To meet this challenge, modern genomics tools hold the promise of accelerating the process of crop improvement. This paper reviews recent advances in crop breeding for more challenging climatic conditions. This article is of interest to agricultural scientists and food security analysts.

Technical Abstract: Climate change affects agricultural productivity worldwide. Increased prices of food commodities are the initial indication of drastic edible yield loss, which is expected to increase further due to global warming. This situation has compelled plant scientists to develop climate change-resilient crops, which can withstand broad-spectrum stresses such as drought, heat, cold, salinity, flood, submergence and pests, thus helping to deliver increased productivity. Genomics appears to be a promising tool for deciphering the stress responsiveness of crop species with adaptation traits or in wild relatives toward identifying underlying genes, alleles or quantitative trait loci. Molecular breeding approaches have proven helpful in enhancing the stress adaptation of crop plants, and recent advances in high-throughput sequencing and phenotyping platforms have transformed molecular breeding to genomics-assisted breeding (GAB). In view of this, the present review elaborates the progress and prospects of GAB for improving climate change resilience in crops, which is likely to play an ever increasing role in the effort to ensure global food security.