Genetic Diversity, Conservation, and Utilization of Plant Genetic Resources

Romesh Kumar Salgotra; Bhagirath Singh Chauhan

doi:10.3390/genes14010174

journal article Open Access Jan 09, 2023

Genetic Diversity, Conservation, and Utilization of Plant Genetic Resources

Romesh Kumar Salgotra

Bhagirath Singh Chauhan

Genes Vol. 14 No. 1 pp. 174 · MDPI AG

View at Publisher Save 10.3390/genes14010174

Abstract

Plant genetic resources (PGRs) are the total hereditary material, which includes all the alleles of various genes, present in a crop species and its wild relatives. They are a major resource that humans depend on to increase farming resilience and profit. Hence, the demand for genetic resources will increase as the world population increases. There is a need to conserve and maintain the genetic diversity of these valuable resources for sustainable food security. Due to environmental changes and genetic erosion, some valuable genetic resources have already become extinct. The landraces, wild relatives, wild species, genetic stock, advanced breeding material, and modern varieties are some of the important plant genetic resources. These diverse resources have contributed to maintaining sustainable biodiversity. New crop varieties with desirable traits have been developed using these resources. Novel genes/alleles linked to the trait of interest are transferred into the commercially cultivated varieties using biotechnological tools. Diversity should be maintained as a genetic resource for the sustainable development of new crop varieties. Additionally, advances in biotechnological tools, such as next-generation sequencing, molecular markers, in vitro culture technology, cryopreservation, and gene banks, help in the precise characterization and conservation of rare and endangered species. Genomic tools help in the identification of quantitative trait loci (QTLs) and novel genes in plants that can be transferred through marker-assisted selection and marker-assisted backcrossing breeding approaches. This article focuses on the recent development in maintaining the diversity of genetic resources, their conservation, and their sustainable utilization to secure global food security.

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Details

Published: Jan 09, 2023
Vol/Issue: 14(1)
Pages: 174
License: View

Authors

R

Romesh Kumar Salgotra

School of Biotechnology, Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology of Jammu, Chatha, Jammu 180009, India

B

Bhagirath Singh Chauhan

Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation (QAAFI), The University of Queensland, Gatton, QLD 4343, Australia

Cite This Article

Romesh Kumar Salgotra, Bhagirath Singh Chauhan (2023). Genetic Diversity, Conservation, and Utilization of Plant Genetic Resources. Genes, 14(1), 174. https://doi.org/10.3390/genes14010174

Genetic Diversity, Conservation, and Utilization of Plant Genetic Resources

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